tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55988838941408933892018-11-18T00:59:30.961+00:00Avedon's Sideshow"My motto as I live and learn is: dig and be dug in return." -- Langston HughesAvedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comBlogger277125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-69779329540080507972018-11-08T23:57:00.001+00:002018-11-11T22:36:10.004+00:00Happy Dawali!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FakVoT-uG0o/W-TNM667ijI/AAAAAAAAB7I/EDPO0y2rFhUYRP3BCnzTpwXLbdx4RMGFACLcBGAs/s1600/Dawali%2B-%2BYipeng%2BFestival%252C%2BChiang%2BMai%252C%2BThailand..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FakVoT-uG0o/W-TNM667ijI/AAAAAAAAB7I/EDPO0y2rFhUYRP3BCnzTpwXLbdx4RMGFACLcBGAs/s320/Dawali%2B-%2BYipeng%2BFestival%252C%2BChiang%2BMai%252C%2BThailand..jpg" width="320" height="320" data-original-width="640" data-original-height="640" /></a></div> <p>Palast has been screaming for months about Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp's illegal voter roll purges <em>in an election where he was running for governor</em>, which historically has meant resigning from the seat in the name of fairness. But this is a Republican <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/brian-kemp-340000-voters-748165/">election fraudster</a>. Similarly, he's been after Kris Kobach, who was Trump's fraudster-in-chief. Those are two races I was particularly paying attention to, but in the last few weeks Palast was tweeting warnings in far more states, telling people to check their registrations. I couldn't even begin to keep track of all the problems I saw being tweeted about as Tuesday night went on, all over the country, including Brooklyn, New York. Utterly outrageous behavior on the part of election officials working hard to disenfranchise voters. Ari Berman in <em>Mother Jones</em>, "<a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/11/voters-are-making-an-unprecedented-number-of-calls-to-report-election-problems/">Voters Are Making an Unprecedented Number of Calls to Report Election Problems</a>: <font color=maroon>Broken voting machines in New Jersey. Absentee ballots that never arrived in Florida. Voters being asked for the wrong forms of photo ID in Mississippi. A call center at a law firm in New York is fielding complaints from around the country of voting irregularities, and voters are reporting a wide range of barriers to voting in a midterm election that will determine control of Congress and the fate of President Donald Trump's agenda.</font>" Even Berman's list is not comprehensive, and the implication is that a lot of it was lack of preparedness for unusually high turnout for a mid-term election, but a lot of these are issues that only happen if you're trying to make it hard for people to vote. There should not be four-hour lines, ever. <p>Democrats took the House Tuesday (and got rid of Pete Sessions), picked up the Senate seat in Nevada but lost seats for Indiana, Missouri, and North Dakota. So much for the idea that running to the right helps Democrats, I guess. Presumed rising stars Randy Bryce (WI 1st Congressional district) and Beto O'Rourke (for the Texas Senate seat) failed to win their bids, so Ted Cruz is still in the Senate. On the bright side. <a href="https://newrepublic.com/minutes/152097/kris-kobach-face-voter-suppression-loses-governors-race-kansas">Kris Kobach, major election fraudster, lost the Kansas gubernatorial race</a> to Democrat Laura Kelly. Dems did flip more governorships than they lost (Scott Walker lost WI, and Maine finally got rid of LePage), and New York finally dumped its Republicans. Of course, with Maryland Democrats supporting the Republican governor, <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/11/07/maryland-governor-election-ben-jealous-larry-hogan/">Ben Jealous</a> lost by a decisive margin to Larry Hogan. But once again, we lost more right-wing Dems from office, which gives us the option of building a better Democratic position in those areas. <p>Oh, and I confess that I wanted to see this: "<a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/ned-lamont-connecticut-governor_us_5be0a304e4b01ffb1d051ed3">Democrat Ned Lamont Wins Connecticut Governor's Race</a>," although I really have no idea how he will govern. Never gonna forgive Lieberman, though. <p>Some important races haven't actually been called yet, and the Gillum and Abrams races may be headed for recounts. Fingers crossed and all that, but so far it seems like the election frauds may have won. <p><em>The Onion</em>, "<a href="https://politics.theonion.com/georgia-election-worker-assures-black-man-ballot-scanne-1830266358/">Georgia Election Worker Assures Black Man Ballot Scanner Supposed To Sound Like Shredder</a>." <p>Oh, yeah, Bernie Sanders won his Senate race with over 67%. <p>Twitter had some <a href="https://twitter.com/i/moments/1059906258948378624">fun moments</a>. <p>There was some great news on ballot initiatives, particularly: <br> &bullet; "<a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/11/6/18052540/election-results-louisiana-amendment-2-unanimous-jim-crow-jury-law">Louisiana votes to eliminate Jim Crow jury law with Amendment 2</a>: The law made Louisiana one of two states that allowed a non-unanimous jury in felony trials." <br> &bullet; "<a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/florida-felon-disenfranchisement_us_5bdb2c8ae4b01abe6a1c370d">In Historic Move, Florida Approves Automatically Restoring Voting Rights To Felons</a>: The move, reversing a Jim Crow-era policy, is one of the most significant expansions of the franchise in modern times." <p>Someone told me the Texas Board of Education flipped blue. That would be a big deal, since Texas seems to control textbooks all over America. However I couldn't find a story on that. <p><center><font color=magenta>* * * * *</font></center><p> <p>I think I actually missed this last year when it was posted, but now that I've found it, you should read it. <blockquote><font color=maroon><a href="https://democracyjournal.org/arguments/keep-it-simple-and-take-credit/">Keep It Simple and Take Credit</a><br>By Jack Meserve <p>As Democrats stare down eight years of policies being wiped out within months, it's worth looking at why those policies did virtually nothing for their electoral success at any level. And, in the interest of supporting a united front between liberals and socialists, let me start this off with a rather long quote from Matt Christman of Chapo Trap House, on why Obamacare failed to gain more popularity: <blockquote>There are parts to it that are unambiguously good &mdash; like, Medicaid expansion is good, and why? Because there's no fucking strings attached. You don't have to go to a goddamned website and become a fucking hacker to try to figure out how to pick the right plan, they just tell you 'you're covered now.' And that's it! That's all it ever should have been and that is why &mdash; [Jonathan Chait] is bemoaning why it's a political failure? Because modern neoliberal, left-neoliberal policy is all about making this shit invisible to people so that they don't know what they're getting out of it. <p>And as Rick Perlstein has talked about a lot, that's one of the reasons that Democrats end up fucking themselves over. The reason they held Congress for 40 years after enacting Social Security is because Social Security was right in your fucking face. They could say to you, 'you didn't used to have money when you were old, now you do. Thank Democrats.' And they fucking did. Now it's, 'you didn't used to be able to log on to a website and negotiate between 15 different providers to pick a platinum or gold or zinc plan and apply a fucking formula for a subsidy that's gonna change depending on your income so you might end up having to retroactively owe money or have a higher premium.' Holy shit, thank you so much. </blockquote>This point has been made before on Obamacare, but the tendency behind it, the tendency to muddle and mask benefits, has become endemic to center-left politics. Either Democrats complicate their initiatives enough to be inscrutable to anyone who doesn't love reading hours of explainers on public policy, or else they don't take credit for the few simple policies they do enact. Let's run through a few examples. <br>[...] <p>This shouldn't even be a liberal-socialist divide, although it seems to have become one in recent years. When society decided citizens should be able to read, we didn't provide tax credits for books, we created public libraries. When we decided peoples' houses shouldn't burn down, we didn't provide savings accounts for private fire insurance, we hired firefighters and built fire stations. If the broad left takes power again, enough with too-clever-by-half social engineering. Help people and take credit. </font></blockquote>Now go read the rest &mdash; and then send it to any Dem reps you might have, and anyone else you think might benefit from having this drilled into them. <p><center><font color=magenta>* * * * *</font></center><p> <p>This <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/31/sherrod-brown-no-real-interest-in-running-against-trump.html">CNBC interview with Sherrod Brown</a> is interesting. I mean the way he talks, it's so different from the way pretty much every other candidate is talking. I have my problems with him but seeing the way he talks about trade and never once attacks Trump even while disagreeing with how he went about it, I think I can see why he's doing so well. Brown won re-election to the Ohio Senate quite comfortably Tuesday. <p>Capital-D Democratic darling "<a href="https://mondoweiss.net/2018/11/semitic-massacre-palestinians/">Cory Booker uses anti-Semitic massacre as an excuse to dismiss Palestinians rights</a>: <font color=maroon>New Jersey Senator Cory Booker says that the Pittsburgh massacre has led him to support the Israel Anti-Boycott Act. He becomes the first politician to use the killings of 11 Jews to take a racist position against Palestinian rights. His move should be described exactly that way, as a cynical use of real antisemitism as an excuse to dismiss Palestinian rights so as to further his political career.</font>" <p><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/10/30/watch-glenn-greenwald-breaks-down-lessons-west-bolsonaros-fascist-victory-brazil/">Watch: Glenn Greenwald Breaks Down Lessons for the West From Bolsonaro's Fascist Victory in Brazil</a>: "<font color=maroon>When the establishment class fails a huge portion of the population for enough time and to enough of an extent, sooner or later they will decide that it is the ruling class that is their enemy.</font>" <p>Glen Ford at <em>Black Agenda Report</em>, "<a href="https://blackagendareport.com/fascism-real-resistance-mostly-fake">Fascism is Real, But the 'Resistance' is Mostly Fake</a> [...] <font color=maroon>I have no problem labeling Trump a fascist, and Bolsonaro appears to have no problem being called one. My problem is with a phony 'resistance' that defines fascism so narrowly that it applies, domestically, only to Donald Trump and his most crazed followers. For Democrats, the fascist label is mere political epithet, a demon-word hurled for election purposes.</font>" <p>Margaret Sullivan, former "public editor" at the NYT &mdash; the good one &mdash; has a new job as "Media Columnist" at the WaPo. "<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/defensive-caravan-fixated-and-trump-obsessed-the-media-blow-it-again-just-not-as-badly/2018/11/04/e4c9efcc-deb7-11e8-b3f0-62607289efee_story.html/">Defensive, caravan-fixated and Trump-obsessed, the media blow it again. Just not as badly</a>." Of course, the media that reported on every hysterical word about the caravan conveniently forgot it as soon as the election was over, just like the White House and the rest of right-wing media seem to have done. <p>"<a href="http://www.latinorebels.com/2018/10/31/latimesendorsements/">LA Times Publishes Completely Different Political Endorsements in English and Spanish</a>: <font color=maroon>LOS ANGELES &mdash; Why would the same newspaper, with a mainstream version in English and another version in Spanish covering the same geographical area and diverse communities, endorse different candidates for the same federal, state and local elections in each language?</font> [...] <font color=maroon>The English version of the LA Times suggests you re-elect U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein because she comes from a more 'civil and productive era of governance' and has accomplished a great deal like that. The editorial casts doubt on the effectiveness of her challenger, state senator Kevin de León who seems 'unwilling to compromise.' LA Times en Español, however, has a different take. According to its editorial, de León is the best choice because he seems pragmatic and effective enough and knows the immigrant community best. And, after all, 'Dianne Feinstein has been in the Senate since 1992' and that's 'too long. A generational change is needed.'</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.peoplespolicyproject.org/2018/11/01/3p-gives-glenn-kessler-8-pinocchios-for-health-policy-bungle/">3P Gives Glenn Kessler 8 Pinocchios for Healthcare Bungle</a>." Kessler really seems to be desperate. <p>David Dayen, "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/10/31/california-proposition-8-dialysis/">The Dialysis Industry Is Spending $111 Million To Argue That Regulating It Would Put It Out Of Business</a> <p>Thomas Ferguson, Benjamin Page, Jacob E. Rothschild, Arturo Chang, and Jie Chen at the Institute for New Economic Thinking have a new paper out, "<a href="https://www.ineteconomics.org/uploads/papers/WP_83-Ferguson-et-al.pdf">The Economic and Social Roots of Populist Rebellion: Support for Donald Trump in 2016</a>" (.pdf), which they introduce in "<a href="https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/economic-distress-did-drive-trumps-win">Economic Distress Did Drive Trump's Win</a>" this way: "<font color=maroon>Contrary to the dominant media narrative, social issues like racism and sexism on their own can't explain Trump's success.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Economic factors mattered at both stages. Moreover, in the general election &mdash; in contrast to the primaries &mdash; leading social factors actually tended to hurt rather than help Trump. While agreeing that racial resentment and sexism were important influences, the paper shows how various economic considerations &mdash; including concerns about imports and job losses, wealth inequality, social welfare programs, and starved infrastructure &mdash; helped Trump win the Republican primary and then led significant blocs of voters to shift from supporting Democrats or abstaining in 2012 to voting for him. It also presents striking evidence of the importance of political money and senators' 'reverse coattails' in the dramatic final result.</font>" (Lee Fang has the short version at <em>The Intercept</em>, "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/10/31/donald-trump-2016-election-economic-distress/">Donald Trump Exploited Long-Term Economic Distress To Fuel His Election Victory, Study Finds</a>.") <p>Lynn Parramore, also at INET, interviews Adolph Reed in light of the new paper, "<a href="https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/cheap-talk-on-race-and-xenophobia-keeps-americans-from-confronting-economic-and-political-peril">Cheap Talk on Race and Xenophobia Keeps Americans from Confronting Economic and Political Peril</a>: <font color=maroon>Adolph Reed, who researches race and politics, warns that 'identitarian' politics can conceal the structural inequities of capitalism.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>I had a very sharp and studious black undergraduate student wholly inside a race-first understanding of politics. When I mentioned the white people who had voted for Obama once if not twice who also voted for Trump, his response was, well, of course you can't say that voting for Obama means that you're not a racist. I said, yes, that's true, but by the same token you can't say that voting for Trump means you are a racist, right? Which they don't want to accept.</font> <p>Sam Seder and David Dayen, <a href="https://youtu.be/sMi6gUq6tEY">How Corporate-Funded Judicial Bootcamp Made More Conservative Judges</a> on <em>Ring of Fire</em>. <p>Thom Hartmann says <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/heres-the-real-reason-why-republicans-fear-medicare-for-all/">The Real Reason Why Republicans Fear 'Medicare for All'</a> is that it will provide every citizen with legitimate voter ID. I'm pretty sure that's not the only reason. <p>"<a href="https://splinternews.com/start-the-voter-suppression-hearings-now-and-dont-stop-1830280410">Start the Voter Suppression Hearings Now and Don't Stop</a> [...] <font color=maroon>The House can hold hearings on voter suppression. They can start immediately. They can subpoena every fucking Republican secretary of state who can reasonably be judged to have assisted in the suppression of minority voters. They can subpoena law enforcement officials. They can subpoena campaign staffers. They can subpoena poll workers. They can call in all types of political science professors and statisticians and sociologists to explain in detail what is happening. They can invite Michelle Alexander to read the entirety of The New Jim Crow into the Congressional record. They can draw attention. They can make noise. They should, and they must. The more you let the overt oppression slide, the more it will be seen as the standard playbook for the next election.</font>" Personally, I'm not getting behind abolishing the Senate until House reps can only have 30K constituents. <p><em>The Onion</em>, "<a href="https://politics.theonion.com/white-house-concerned-ryan-zinke-made-land-deal-without-1830183348">White House Concerned Ryan Zinke Made Land Deal Without Giving Cut To Trump</a>." <p>"<a href="https://www.cbr.com/beatles-comic-book-appearances/">See Beatlemania Hit the Comic Book World During the 1960s!</a>" I actually remember that Jimmy Olsen stuff, but I remember finding it embarrassing. <p>"<a href="https://www.guitarworld.com/news/motown-guitarist-wah-wah-watson-dead-at-67">Motown Guitarist <b>Wah Wah Watson</b> Dead at 67</a>: <font color=maroon>Born Melvin Ragin, the iconic guitarist lent his signature licks to the Temptations, Marvin Gaye, others.</font>" <p>Temptations, "<a href="https://youtu.be/nXiQtD5gcHU">Papa Was A Rolling Stone</a>" Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-80621116644638883062018-10-30T15:54:00.001+00:002018-10-30T15:57:10.322+00:00But now these days are gone, I'm not so self assured<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LYLBnzGoAQo/W9h-WE0-CbI/AAAAAAAAB64/Kyr_0gUwOvc78qi-Ko4LyKT4HBS4lqtewCLcBGAs/s1600/HalloweenFrank.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LYLBnzGoAQo/W9h-WE0-CbI/AAAAAAAAB64/Kyr_0gUwOvc78qi-Ko4LyKT4HBS4lqtewCLcBGAs/s320/HalloweenFrank.jpg" width="230" height="320" data-original-width="395" data-original-height="550" /></a></div> <p>With the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/oct/27/pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting">synagogue shooting</a>, the <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/kroger-grocery-shooter-tried-to-enter-black-church-first-2018-10">Kroger shooting</a>, and the result of the <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/10/28/jair-bolsonaro-elected-president-brazil/">Brazilian election</a> (and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-election-france/french-president-macron-congratulates-bolsonaro-on-brazil-win-idUSKCN1N319Y">this piece of crap Macron</a>), I'm a bit shell-shocked. I can't write anything. <p>The DC City Council has no Republicans, but, "<a href="http://dcist.com/2018/10/yep_they_did_itdc_council_repeals_i.php">Yep, They Did It &mdash; D.C. Council Repeals Initiative 77</a>: <font color=maroon>The D.C. Council has now officially repealed Initiative 77, the measure approved by voters in June that would have gradually eliminated the tipped wage. What began as a protracted and oftentimes contentious battle during the primary season ended with a whimper in legislative session on Tuesday. The vote was 8-5, with the same councilmembers who voted against the measure two weeks ago similarly opposing the second vote: Ward 1's Brianne Nadeau, Ward 3's Mary Cheh, Ward 6's Charles Allen, and At-large Councilmembers Robert White and Elissa Silverman. In addition to repealing Initiative 77, the Tipped Wage Workers Fairness Amendment Act of 2018 also requires employers of tipped workers to be trained on the topics of sexual harassment and wage-theft laws, and to use a third-party payroll system that submits data to D.C.'s Department of Employment Services. That employment agency must also create a website with information about the city's wage and hour rules, and the mayor must set up a tip line for workers to report wage theft. Now, the repeal needs the mayor's signature, which Mayor Muriel Bowser has said she will provide, and a standard 30-day Congressional review period to become law. While 55 percent of voters came out in favor of Initiative 77 during the June primary, the council moved quickly towards repealing the measure, which faced strong opposition from the restaurant industry.</font>" <p>So, a guy tried to bomb some prominent Democrats who, just by coincidence, are constant hate figures of the right wing, including right-wing television, radio, and Trump. But David Dayen noticed an interesting bit of the guy's back story, "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/10/26/cesar-sayoc-foreclosure-steven-mnuchin/">Cesar Sayoc's Home Was Foreclosed On By Steve Mnuchin's Bank, Using Dodgy Paperwork</a>: <font color=maroon>CESAR SAYOC, THE Donald Trump-loving Floridian who was taken into custody in relation to pipe bombs mailed to prominent Democrats, was foreclosed on in 2009 by a bank whose principal owner and chair is now Trump's treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin. The documents used to enact the foreclosure were signed by a prominent robo-signer and seemingly backdated. Nonetheless, the evidence was good enough for the famously inattentive Florida foreclosure courts to wave the case through. Years later, Sayoc became a supporter of Trump, who came into office and appointed a treasury secretary who ran the bank that snatched Sayoc's house.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>It's a bizarre twist to a story that has captured America's attention this week. Thirteen pipe bombs were sent by mail to high-profile Trump critics: former President Barack Obama, former Vice President Joe Biden, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Sens. Cory Booker and Kamala Harris, Rep. Maxine Waters, former Attorney General Eric Holder, actor Robert DeNiro, financier and Democratic donor George Soros, among others. None of the bombs exploded. In yet another irony, Soros was one of the investors in the bank that executed the foreclosure on Sayoc's home.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>The story is a lesson about the toxicity of the foreclosure crisis and how it upended millions of lives. It's also a lesson about how the failure to uphold the rule of law can reverberate in unforeseen directions, and how a combination of ignorance and partisan passions can make people believe their assailants are their saviors.</font>" <p>Surprisingly, a strong article in <em>Politico</em> that's very positive, "<a href="https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/10/17/bernie-sanders-is-quietly-remaking-the-democrats-foreign-policy-in-his-own-image-221313">Bernie Sanders Is Quietly Remaking the Democrats' Foreign Policy in His Own Image</a>: <font color=maroon>The gadfly senator suddenly finds himself in an unfamiliar role: consensus-builder.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Van Jackson, a foreign policy expert and adviser to the Pentagon during the Obama administration, described Sanders' global-minded makeover: 'I'm a progressive but couldn't bring myself to vote for Sanders in 2016 because I thought he wasn't serious about national security. He was basically silent on it. ... Not only does Sanders now seem to take national security seriously &mdash; he's literally the only politician accurately diagnosing the threat landscape America faces,' he wrote in an email.</font>" <p>I saw "centrists" saying that if Bernie Sanders went to South Carolina only 15 people would show up. <a href="http://www.14news.com/2018/10/20/live-sen-bernie-sanders-sc-medicare-all-rally/">This looks like more than 15 people</a>. (Sanders' speech starts about halfway through the video, but it's interesting seeing the local speakers and Nina Turner rabble-rousing first, too.) <p>"<a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-gay-sex-death-penalty-un-same-sex-relations-human-rights-council-saudi-arabia-iraq-nikki-haley-a7980981.html">US votes against UN resolution condemning gay sex death penalty, joining Iraq and Saudi Arabia</a>: <font color=maroon>The US is one of just 13 countries to have voted against a United Nations resolution condemning the death penalty for having gay sex. Although the vote passed, America joined countries such as China, Iraq and Saudi Arabia in opposing the move. The Human Rights Council resolution condemned the 'imposition of the death penalty as a sanction for specific forms of conduct, such as apostasy, blasphemy, adultery and consensual same-sex relations'. It attacked the use of execution against persons with 'mental or intellectual disabilities, persons below 18 years of age at the time of the commission of the crime, and pregnant women'. It also expressed 'serious concern that the application of the death penalty for adultery is disproportionately imposed on women'. The US supported two failed amendments put forward by Russia, which stated the death penalty was not necessarily 'a human rights violation' and that it is not a form of torture, but can lead to it 'in some cases'. And it abstained on a 'sovereignty amendment' put forward by Saudi Arabia, that stated 'the right of all countries to develop their own laws and penalties'.</font>" <p>Bill Mitchell has depressing news in his <a href="http://bilbo.economicoutlook.net/blog/?p=40562">summary of his meeting with John McDonnell in London</a>: <font color=maroon>It is Wednesday and I am reverting to my plan to keep my blog posts short on this day to give me more time for other things. Today, I will briefly outline what happened last Thursday when I met with Shadow British Chancellor John McDonnell in London. As I noted yesterday, I was not going to comment publicly on this meeting. I have a lot of meetings and interactions with people in 'high' office which remain private due to the topics discussed etc. But given that John McDonnell told an audience in London later that evening that he had met with me and that I thought the proposed fiscal rule that Labour has adopted was 'fine', I thought it only reasonable that I disclose what happened at that meeting. I did not think the rule was fine and I urged them to scrap it and stop using neoliberal constructs.</font>" It seems Labour has bought the deficit lie and is talking austerity. <p>"<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/10/18/even-janitors-have-noncompetes-now-nobody-is-safe/">Even janitors have noncompetes now. Nobody is safe.</a>: <font color=maroon>One of the central contradictions of capitalism is that what makes it work &mdash; competition &mdash; is also what capitalists want to get rid of the most. That's true not only of competition between companies, but also between them and their workers. After all, the more of a threat its rivals are, and the more options its employees have, the less profitable a business will tend to be. Which, as the Financial Times reports, probably goes a long way toward explaining why a $3.4 billion behemoth like Cushman & Wakefield would bother to sue one of its former janitors, accusing her of breaking her noncompete agreement by taking a job in the same building she had been cleaning for the global real estate company but doing it for a different firm.</font>" <p>Sirota, "<a href="https://www.westword.com/news/nobel-energy-finds-way-to-pump-unregulated-cash-into-fight-against-colorados-proposition-112-10916014">Noble Energy Pumps Unregulated Cash Into Fight Against 112</a>: <font color=maroon>In a last-ditch attempt to defeat one of the most far-reaching environmental measures on the 2018 ballot, a fossil-fuel giant is blanketing Colorado television with election-focused political ads that it now claims are outside the purview of all state campaign-finance laws. The maneuver &mdash; which pioneers a novel way for corporations to circumvent disclosure statutes and inject money directly into elections &mdash; has been blessed by the office of Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams, who has led a Republican political group bankrolled by the same fossil-fuel corporation that is airing the ads.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/10/17/heart-global-woes-157-worlds-200-richest-entities-are-now-corporations-not/">At the Heart of Global Woes, 157 of World's 200 Richest Entities Are Now Corporations, Not Governments</a>: <font color=maroon>From massive inequality to the climate crisis, these powerful corporations 'are able to demand that governments do their bidding'</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.wired.com/story/i-bought-used-voting-machines-on-ebay/?mbid=social_twitter_onsiteshare">I Bought Used Voting Machines On Ebay For $100 Apiece. What I Found Was Alarming</a> [...] <font color=maroon>Surely, I thought, these machines would have strict guidelines for lifecycle control like other sensitive equipment, like medical devices. I was wrong. I was able to purchase a pair of direct-recording electronic voting machines and have them delivered to my home in just a few days. I did this again just a few months ago. Alarmingly, they are still available to buy online. If getting voting machines delivered to my door was shockingly easy, getting inside them proved to be simpler still. The tamper-proof screws didn't work, all the computing equipment was still intact, and the hard drives had not been wiped. The information I found on the drives, including candidates, precincts, and the number of votes cast on the machine, were not encrypted. Worse, the 'Property Of' government labels were still attached, meaning someone had sold government property filled with voter information and location data online, at a low cost, with no consequences. It would be the equivalent of buying a surplus police car with the logos still on it.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>This year, I bought two more machines to see if security had improved. To my dismay, I discovered that the newer model machines &mdash; those that were used in the 2016 election &mdash; are running Windows CE and have USB ports, along with other components, that make them even easier to exploit than the older ones. Our voting machines, billed as 'next generation,' and still in use today, are worse than they were before &mdash; dispersed, disorganized, and susceptible to manipulation.</font> <p>OK, this is just hilarious. "<a href="https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/observations/2018/10/francis-fukuyama-interview-socialism-ought-come-back">Francis Fukuyama interview: 'Socialism ought to come back'</a>: <font color=maroon><em>The End of History</em> author on what Karl Marx got right, the rivals to liberal democracy and why he fears a US-China war.</font>" <p><em>Poynter</em>, "<a href="https://www.poynter.org/news/about-1300-us-communities-have-totally-lost-news-coverage-unc-news-desert-study-finds">About 1,300 U.S. communities have totally lost news coverage, UNC news desert study finds</a>." Many newspapers that still exist are publishing little if any local news, but in many parts of the US, there are simply no newspapers at all. Some local stations are still trying hard to cover local news and issues, but for many people, there is no local broadcast news and no local coverage. <p>Jay Rosen says, "<a href="http://pressthink.org/2018/10/next-time-you-wonder-why-new-york-times-people-get-so-defensive-read-this/#comment-139965">Next time you wonder why New York Times people get so defensive, read this</a>." And goes on to say that now that the journalists are forced to get more feedback, and the paper now depends more closely on subscriptions rather than advertising for income, readers are making them nervous. This seems like an awfully sympathetic position to take for a paper that chose to fill its op-ed page with right-wingers in one of the most liberal markets in America. I feel bad for journalists who want to write the Who, What, Where, When, and Why and instead find themselves having to juggle both-siderism with stratospherically insane claims from the "other side", but that's on their bosses, not on the readers. <p>Robert Kuttner, "<a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/opinion-sears-bankruptcy-hedge-funds_us_5bc4b346e4b0bd9ed55c8a58?ncid=engmodushpmg00000004">Sears Didn't 'Die.' Vulture Capitalists Killed It</a>. <font color=maroon>If you've been following the impending bankruptcy of America's iconic retailer as covered by print, broadcast and digital media, you've probably encountered lots of nostalgia and sad clucking about how dinosaurs like Sears can't compete in the age of Amazon and specialty retail. But most of the coverage has failed to stress the deeper story. Namely, Sears is a prime example of how hedge funds and private equity companies take over retailers, encumber them with debt in order to pay themselves massive windfall profits, and then leave the retailer without adequate operating capital to compete.</font>" On that same subject, Sam Seder talked to Marshall Steinbaum about <a href="https://youtu.be/Pus7OUclgBM">The Sears Bankruptcy & Private Equity Raiders</a> on <em>The Majority Report</em>. <p>"<a href="https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/opinion/article_15628496-c19e-11e8-a027-f3f021ee1a81.html">Wrongfully convicted by non-unanimous jury, I spent 15 years in prison for crime I didn't commit</a> [...] <font color=maroon>In any other state, we wouldn't have been wrongfully convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. Louisiana is one of only two states that allow people to be convicted of felonies with non-unanimous jury votes. After the Civil War, when the 14th Amendment mandated that black men be allowed to serve on juries, Louisiana took action to maintain our second-class status. In 1898, the state changed its constitution so that a less than unanimous vote by a jury could convict a defendant of a felony. The purpose was to make sure that black jurors could be outvoted by a majority of white jurors. The official statements made at the 1898 Constitutional Convention stated that the intention was to 'perpetuate the supremacy of the Anglo-Saxon race in Louisiana.' On November 6, Louisiana will have a chance to overturn this expressly racist jury rule. A proposal on the ballot asks voters if they want to end the state's split-jury statute and the unfair practice of convicting people of a felony without the unanimous consent of a jury.</font>" <p>David Dayen in <em>The New Republic</em>, "<a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/151871/essential-difference-bernie-sanders-elizabeth-warren">The Essential Difference Between Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren</a>: <font color=maroon>The potential 2020 candidates are often portrayed as identical progressives. A closer look proves otherwise.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>They have markedly different approaches to empowering the working class. In the simplest possible terms, Warren wants to organize markets to benefit workers and consumers, while Sanders wants to overhaul those markets, taking the private sector out of it. This divide &mdash; and where Warren or Sanders's putative rivals position themselves on it &mdash; will determine the future of the Democratic Party for the next decade or more.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2708613">Group Purchasing Organizations, Health Care Costs, and Drug Shortages</a> [...] <font color=maroon>In 1972, Congress enacted the Anti-Kickback Statute as part of the Social Security Act Amendments that banned kickbacks, bribes, or rebates in return for furnishing items or services; the statute was intended to protect patients and federal health programs from the inherent conflict of interest. However, in 1987, group purchasers were granted an exception to the antikickback law, known as the safe harbor exemption. The exemption allowed creative strategies for GPOs to increase their profits. Today, GPOs ask manufacturers to pay them undisclosed vendor fees as a condition to have their products placed in the GPO catalogs. This issue can be problematic when GPOs go further and invite a manufacturer to pay a premium fee to become a sole supplier, allowing the manufacturer that is the highest bidder to essentially purchase market share, rendering hospitals and patients dependent on a single manufacturer's supply chain. Hospitals in turn are sometimes asked to enter into contracts with GPOs that offer greater discounts for longer, more exclusive contracts. One potential result of these contracting interactions is that only 1 or 2 manufacturers may be responsible for an entire regional or national supply chain. This reliance on a narrow supply chain can have an adverse effect on hospital inventories if a factory has production problems. A 2016 US Government Accountability Office study concluded that there was a strong association between critical drug shortages and a decline in the number of drug suppliers.2 Furthermore, GPOs were a significant focus in a US House of Representatives report on drug shortages, which stated that 'the GPO structure reduces the number of manufacturers producing each generic drug.'3 This association between drug shortages and the number of drug suppliers was likely a contributing factor when hospitals faced a nationwide shortage of intravenous saline bags after Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico and damaged the manufacturing plant of Baxter International, which has dominated the US saline bag market.4 Although there is limited evidence to support the direct link between GPOs and drug shortages, the vendor fee model of GPOs has the potential to create barriers to market entry for manufacturers by rewarding fewer, larger manufacturers and thus increasing dependence on fewer supply chains.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/10/22/the-growth-of-sinclairs-conservative-media-empire">The Growth of Sinclair's Conservative Media Empire</a>: <font color=maroon>The company has achieved formidable reach by focussing on small markets where its TV stations can have a big influence.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>There are regulations that prevent any single company from controlling too large a share of the press, in order to protect competition and the free exchange of ideas. Sinclair has achieved its formidable reach by exploiting loopholes in these regulations. During the past few decades, it has bought small and midsized television-station operators and then circumvented regulations by setting up shell companies that on paper appear to be separate entities but over which Sinclair exerts almost total control. Sinclair's stations &mdash; there are often several in the same broadcast area, branded as local ABC, CBS, NBC, or Fox affiliates &mdash; enjoy the trust of viewers because they appear independent, even though much of the content is dictated at a national level. A former news director at a Sinclair-owned station told me that Smith 'purposely went in and bought a whole bunch of stations in mid-America &mdash; i.e., Trump kinds of towns. Places where they could have a big influence.' She added, 'I don't care what your politics are &mdash; the bottom line is, they hatched a plan to have an effect on the majority of this country. And, when you look at it, I'm positive the right-wing commentaries, in small markets, had an effect on the election.'</font>" <p><em>Haaretz</em>, "<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-6-billion-of-iranian-money-why-israeli-firm-black-cube-went-after-obama-s-team-1.6593965/">$6 Billion of Iranian Money: Why Israeli Firm Black Cube Really Went After Obama's Team</a>: <font color=maroon>When it was revealed earlier this year that the commercial spy firm was targeting members of the Obama administration, it was assumed it was working for the Trump team. But official company documents leaked to Haaretz reveal a far more lucrative target &mdash; the seizure of Iranian cash worldwide</font>" <p>Andrew O'Hehir at <em>Alternet</em>, "<a href="https://www.alternet.org/donald-trump-didnt-start-fire-here-are-things-midterms-cant-fix/">Donald Trump Didn't Start the Fire: Here Are Things the Midterms Can't Fix</a>: <font color=maroon>An appalling week of mail bombs, Trump tweets and Megyn Kelly overload should remind us: Politics won't fix America</font> [...] <font color=maroon> Let's say instead that for many powerful and well-insulated Americans near the top of the cultural pyramid, from the center-left to the center-right &mdash; including at least some penitent conservatives in the Max Boot and Tom Nichols mold &mdash; a potential Democratic congressional majority in 2019 carries a special significance. It represents a symbolic Restoration of the old order, something like installing Charles II on the throne in 1660 after the disastrous experiment of Oliver Cromwell's Puritan regime. It's one last chance to reassert sanity and normalcy &mdash; which in this case signifies a government operated by spooks and wizards with Ivy League degrees &mdash; before we plunge off the cliff into the bottomless troll-hole of dumbass fascism. It's time, in this worldview, for ideological enemies to set aside our differences and join in a 'Coalition of Normals,' to quote Salon contributor Bob Cesca, devoted to restoring our republic and enforcing 'presidential' conduct on the presidency. To this particular fantasy I say, with respect and affection and some lingering nostalgia: LOL whatever. This 'normal' that you speak of: When was that, and where is it to be found? The Benghazi hearings? The drone war and the secret 'kill list' that included American citizens? The birther controversy and the 'death panels'? Potential vice president Sarah Palin? The Iraq war and the 'unknown unknowns'? The Lewinsky scandal and the 'meaning of is'?</font>" <p>Tom Joudrey in <em>Slate</em>, "<a href="https://slate.com/human-interest/2018/10/queer-agenda-radical-feminism-pornography.html">The Alarming Paternalism of Today's Queer Agenda</a>: <font color=maroon>What the anti-pornography campaign of 1980s radical feminism can teach us about queer politics today.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://twitter.com/emarvelous/status/1052177209287475200">@emarvelous</a>: <font color=maroon>Fifty years ago today, two American Olympians showed what it meant to champion justice and equality. It would cost them their careers, test their sanity, and earn them the scorn of their fellow citizens. Their protest inspired multitudes and left a legacy that transcends sport.</font>" Of course, everyone knows the iconic photo of Tommie Smith and John Carlos with their fists raised at the Olympic podium. The third athlete, the Australian Peter Norman, also suffered for his solidarity with his fellows, but <a href="https://theconversation.com/fifty-years-later-peter-normans-heroic-olympic-stand-is-finally-being-recognised-at-home-102112">times have changed</a>. I was touched by this detail: "<font color=maroon>The other monument was erected in 2005 on the campus of Smith's and Carlos's alma mater, San Jose State University in California. For this piece, the second-place podium was left empty. Norman had declined to be depicted, to allow visitors to stand in his place in solidarity with the two Americans instead.</font>" <p>A correction in <em>The New York Times</em>: "<font color=maroon>An obituary on Wednesday about Alex Spanos, the owner of the Chargers, misstated the location of Stockton, Calif., where he was born. It is about 80 miles east of San Francisco, not west</font>" Via <a href="https://www.fark.com/comments/10191776/An-obituary-on-Wednesday-about-Alex-Spanos-owner-of-Chargers-misstated-location-of-Stockton-Calif-where-he-was-born-It-is-about-80-miles-east-of-San-Francisco-not-west"><em>Fark</em></a>. <p>"<a href="https://weightlessbooks.com/format/new-york-review-of-science-fiction-349/">New York Review of Science Fiction #349</a> is the special Gardner Dozois memorial issue, downloadable for free. <p>I'm so old, I can't remember whether I've seen this video before or not. It seems familiar, and yet, I dunno, maybe I just never really watched it that hard before. "<a href="https://youtu.be/2Q_ZzBGPdqE">Help!</a>" Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-82342281112788718252018-10-15T01:53:00.002+01:002018-10-17T15:48:03.250+01:00The night's magic seems to whisper and hush<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6VFa_pR9ndE/W8Pkq45qxQI/AAAAAAAAB6k/lBjKkXgtUDAHHejad3DwurrhEVJ3ctC-wCLcBGAs/s1600/Milkyway%252CLlantwit%2BMajor%2Bbeach.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6VFa_pR9ndE/W8Pkq45qxQI/AAAAAAAAB6k/lBjKkXgtUDAHHejad3DwurrhEVJ3ctC-wCLcBGAs/s320/Milkyway%252CLlantwit%2BMajor%2Bbeach.jpg" width="260" height="320" data-original-width="724" data-original-height="890" /></a></div> <p>"<a href="https://jacobinmag.com/2018/10/jeff-bezos-amazon-wage-union-sanders">Pointing the Finger at Jeff Bezos Worked</a>: <font color=maroon>Jeff Bezos raised Amazon's starting wage to $15 because of pressure from workers and Bernie Sanders &mdash; showing how, even when workers and socialists are weak, we can win against the most powerful people in the world.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/bezos-bows-to-pressure-on-15-hr-keep-pressuring-him-keep-pressuring-them-all-70540bfb7efb">Bezos Bows To Pressure On $15/hr. Keep Pressuring Him. Keep Pressuring Them All</a>. <font color=maroon>In a move that is being widely attributed to pressure from activists and Bernie Sanders' famous Stop BEZOS Act, Amazon has announced a pay increase for all workers inside the US to $15 an hour as of next month. Which is of course a good thing. It is a good thing that the aggressively anti-union Amazon, which is owned and operated by the planet's wealthiest man Jeff Bezos, is finally taking a step in the direction of treating its workers like human beings after the sound of sharpening guillotine blades began to echo off the walls of its warehouses. But that isn't something people should be grateful for, let alone something that causes them to ease up the intensity of the fight against plutocracy. You don't thank a man for ceasing to punch you in the face, especially not while he's still stabbing you in the chest.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://apnews.com/222764a6535a4ce7a17c02c7405361f2">Amazon jumps out ahead of its rivals and raises wages to $15</a>: <font color=maroon>NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Amazon, the business that upended the retailing industry and transformed the way we shop for just about everything, is jumping out ahead of the pack again, announcing a minimum wage of $15 an hour for its U.S. employees that could force other big companies to raise their pay. The online giant also said it will push Congress to increase the federal minimum wage, now at $7.25. Given Amazon's size and clout, the move Tuesday is a major victory for the $15-an-hour movement, which has organized protests of fast-food, gas station and other low-paid workers. Already, several states and cities have raised their minimum wages above the federal one.</font>" <p>But wait! "<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/amazon-cuts-bonuses-leads-questions-about-wage-hike-n916466">Amazon cuts to bonuses leads to questions about wage hike</a>: <font color=maroon>A spokesperson for Amazon said the ending of stock vesting plans and bonuses makes compensation 'more immediate and predictable.'</font>" Make no mistake, by highlighting the workers' action against Amazon, Senator Sanders helped push the company into raising its wages. But Amazon has reasons for preferring to raise wages rather than continue issuing stock bonuses. "<font color=maroon>Sanders said in an emailed statement in response to questions about the stock and bonus programs that he hopes Amazon's change does not end up hurting veteran workers. 'Our understanding is that the vast majority of Amazon workers are going to see wage increases, including some very significant increases as the minimum wage goes up to $15 an hour,' Sanders said. 'I would hope that as a result of Amazon's new policy, no worker, especially long-time employees, sees a reduction in total compensation. Amazon can afford to make all workers whole and should do that.'</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/10/03/too-big-fail-too-big-exist-sanders-introduces-bill-break-nations-largest-wall-street/">'Too Big to Fail, Too Big to Exist': Sanders Introduces Bill to Break Up Nation's Largest Wall Street Banks</a> [...] <font color=maroon>With Wall Street banks as big and profitable as ever ten years after their reckless criminality sparked the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced legislation on Wednesday that would break up Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and other so-called "too big to fail" financial institutions that pose a major systemic risk to the American economy. "No financial institution should be so large that its failure would cause catastrophic risk to millions of Americans or to our nation's economic well being," Sanders said in a statement. "We must end, once and for all, the scheme that is nothing more than a free insurance policy for Wall Street: the policy of 'too big to fail.':Titled "The Too Big to Fail, Too Big to Exist Act," Sanders' legislation would break up any bank that has a total exposure of more than three percent of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP) &mdash; the equivalent to $584.5 billion in today's dollars.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://jacobinmag.com/2018/10/bernie-sanders-foreign-policy-internationalism-authoritarianism">Bernie's New Internationalist Vision</a>: <font color=maroon>Right-wing populism is advancing across the world. Bernie Sanders wants to fight back.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Sanders's speech yesterday, titled 'Building a Global Democratic Movement to Counter Authoritarianism' and adapted from an editorial he wrote in the Guardian last month, was a yardstick measuring his progress in this task to date. In it, he spelled out a dual opposition to authoritarianism and oligarchy. Sanders emphasized throughout his speech that economic inequality and wealth concentration are corrosive to democracy, and in turn to civil rights &mdash; a refrain we've heard from him many times in the domestic context. We must develop a global movement against unaccountable state and corporate power, which are mutually reinforcing, he said.</font>" <p>"<a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/bernie-sanders-saved-a-woman-from-getting-hit-by-a-car-2018-10?r=US&IR=T">Bernie Sanders saved a woman from getting hit by a car while he was out for a walk in DC, and she's very grateful</a>." <p>Trump has started a new campaign lying about Medicare for All. Robert Weissman at <em>Common Dreams</em> had the first fact-check I saw, "<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/10/10/fact-check-trump-dead-wrong-medicare-all/">Trump Is Dead Wrong on Medicare-for-All</a>: <font color=maroon>Lies and deceptions from Trump are nothing new. Lies and deceptions from Trump about Medicare-for All are new, so it's worth correcting his USA Today column attacking such a system. One reason his attacks on Medicare-for-All are new is that he probably has supported it in the past. But whatever, there's no reason to think Trump particularly believed what he said then, or what he says now.</font>" <p>To the astonishment of many, "<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/10/05/justice-laquan-jury-finds-chicago-cop-guilty-second-degree-murder-fatally-shooting/">'Justice for Laquan!': Jury Finds Chicago Cop Guilty of Second-Degree Murder for Fatally Shooting Black Teen 16 Times</a>: <font color=maroon>'We hope that this verdict sends a clear message that police officers can no longer act with impunity against Black Americans.'</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/10/12/facebook-accused-full-frontal-suppression-dissent-after-independent-media-swept-mass">Facebook Accused of 'Full-Frontal Suppression of Dissent' After Independent Media Swept Up in Mass Purge</a>: <font color=maroon>The massive shutdown affected many progressive sites devoted to covering war, police brutality, and other issues neglected by the corporate media. After Facebook announced on Thursday that it shut down and removed hundreds of pages and accounts that it vaguely accused of spreading "spam" and engaging in "inauthentic behavior," some of the individuals and organizations caught up in the social media behemoth's dragnet disputed accusations that they were violating the platform's rules and raised alarm that Facebook is using its enormous power to silence independent political perspectives that run counter to the corporate media's dominant narratives.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.rt.com/usa/441075-facebook-twitter-banned-accounts/">Censorship crackdown? Top 10 alt-media pages newly banned by Facebook &amp; Twitter</a>: <font color=maroon>Sites dealing with government transparency, pages dedicated to police brutality and alternative media &mdash; take a closer look at the top ten accounts with millions of followers that were recently suspended by Twitter and Facebook.</font>" <p>Adam Serwer in <em>The Atlantic</em>, "<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/09/redemption-court/566963/">The Supreme Court Is Headed Back to the 19th Century</a>: <font color=maroon>The justices again appear poised to pursue a purely theoretical liberty at the expense of the lives of people of color.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>The justices did not resurrect Dred Scott v. Sandford's antebellum declaration that a black man had no rights that a white man was bound to respect. Rather, they carefully framed their arguments in terms of limited government and individual liberty, writing opinion after opinion that allowed the white South to create an oppressive society in which black Americans had almost no rights at all. Their commitment to freedom in the abstract, and only in the abstract, allowed a brutal despotism to take root in Southern soil. The conservative majority on the Supreme Court today is similarly blinded by a commitment to liberty in theory that ignores the reality of how Americans' lives are actually lived. Like the Supreme Court of that era, the conservatives on the Court today are opposed to discrimination in principle, and indifferent to it in practice. Chief Justice John Roberts's June 2018 ruling to uphold President Donald Trump's travel ban targeting a list of majority-Muslim countries, despite the voluminous evidence that it had been conceived in animus, showed that the muddled doctrines of the post-Reconstruction period retain a stubborn appeal.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>The lesson of the post-Reconstruction Supreme Court is that a determined Court majority can prove stubbornly resistant to short-term swings of political fortune. Even if Democrats win the next election cycle, and the one after that, an enduring conservative majority on the Supreme Court will have the power to shatter any hard-won liberal legislative victory on the anvil of judicial review. It will be able to reverse decades-old precedents that secure fundamental rights. It will further entrench the rules of a society in which justice skews toward the wealthy, and the lives of those without means can be destroyed by a chance encounter with law enforcement. It will do all these things and more in the name of a purely theoretical freedom, which most Americans will never be able to afford to experience.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/10/08/brazils-bolsonaro-led-far-right-wins-a-victory-far-more-sweeping-and-dangerous-than-anyone-predicted-its-lessons-are-global/">Brazil's Bolsonaro-Led Far Right Wins a Victory Far More Sweeping and Dangerous Than Anyone Predicted. Its Lessons Are Global</a>. <font color=maroon>FOR THE PAST THIRTY YEARS, Congressman Jair Bolsonaro was a fringe extremist in Brazilian politics, known mostly for outlandish, deliberately inflammatory quotes in which he paid homage to the most notorious torturers of the 1964-1985 military regime, constantly heralded the 1964 coup as a 'defense of democracy,' told a female socialist colleague in Congress that she was too ugly to 'deserve' his rape, announced that he'd rather learn that his son died in a car accident than was gay, and said he conceived a daughter after having four sons only due to a 'moment of weakness.'</font> [...] <font color=maroon>As a result of last night's truly stunning national election in Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro has been instantly transformed from marginalized clown into the overwhelmingly dominant force in the country's political life. Bolsonaro himself fell just short of winning the 50% needed to win the presidency without a run-off. But given the margin of victory, he is the overwhelming favorite to win on October 28 against the second-place candidate, ex-São Paulo Mayor Fernando Haddad. Haddad is the previously unknown, hand-picked successor anointed by Lula, the ex-two-term President who had been leading all polls until he was convicted on dubious corruption charges and quickly imprisoned so as to bar his candidacy, then silenced by Brazil's right-wing judiciary with a series of remarkable prior restraint censorship orders barring all media outlets from interviewing him.</font>" <p>I'm so old I can remember when if a reporter for <em>The Washington Post</em>, or even a lesser paper, were murdered, or suspected of being murdered, under circumstances like <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-45812399">Jamal Khashoggi</a>'s, it would be a top headline for at least two or three days. <p>For comic relief, a reminder of what it means to be one of the "smartest guys in the room. "<a href="https://splinternews.com/leading-member-of-global-elite-pens-cartoonish-blog-abo-1829623888">Leading Member of Global Elite Pens Cartoonish Blog About Driving Through Shithole Country</a>," starring Larry Summers. <p>Public Citizen: "<a href="https://www.citizen.org/sites/default/files/nafta-text-analysis.pdf">How the New NAFTA Text Measures Against the Essential Changes We Have Demanded to Stop NAFTA's Ongoing Damage</a>: <font color=maroon>Text of a revised North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was made public on September 30. This initial analysis measures the released text against the changes that Public Citizen has long demanded that are necessary to stop NAFTA's ongoing damage. Almost one million American jobs have been government-certified as lost to NAFTA, with more outsourced to Mexico every week. New NAFTA Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) attacks on environmental and health policies are being regularly filed after $392 million has been seized from taxpayers to date by corporations using NAFTA's ISDS regime. The text includes key improvements for which we have long advocated, as well as the addition of damaging terms found in other agreements that we have long opposed. It also reveals that more work is needed, especially with respect to ensuring the swift and certain enforcement of labor standards and environmental standards.</font>" <p><a href="https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/jeremy-corbyns-conference-speech-full#.W6w-UvDg2tA.twitter">Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party conference speech in full</a> [...] <font color=maroon>We have also been raising more money for our party. But not a penny of our funds came from a dodgy donor or a shady businessmen's club. Our money comes from hundreds of thousands of people across our country who believe in what we stand for. So I don't have to play tennis with an oligarch to keep our party organisation running. Labour trades in hope for the many, not favours for the few.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>You may have noticed that not everyone is entirely happy about all this. It turns out that the billionaires who own the bulk of the British press don't like us one little bit. Now it could be because we're going to clamp down on tax dodging. Or it may be because we don't fawn over them at white tie dinners and cocktail parties. Or it could even be because Tom Watson has been campaigning for the second part of the Leveson media inquiry to be set up - something the last Prime Minister promised, but failed to deliver. We must, and we will, protect the freedom of the press to challenge unaccountable power.</font>" <p>Max Blumenthal, "<a href="https://www.mintpressnews.com/how-an-american-anthropologist-tied-to-us-regime-change-proxies-became-the-msms-man-in-nicaragua/249868/">How an American Anthropologist Tied to US Regime-Change Proxies Became the MSM's Man in Nicaragua</a>: <font color=maroon>It might seem cavalier for an academically credentialed anthropologist to assert political influence on the population he is supposed to be studying; however, Goette-Luciak's activities fit within a long tradition.</font>" One guy who only talks to one side is your "expert". "<font color=maroon>MANAGUA, NICARAGUA &mdash; (Investigation) The Guardian, The Washington Post, the BBC and NPR have assigned an American anthropologist with no previous journalistic experience to cover the crisis in Nicaragua. The novice reporter, named Carl David Goette-Luciak, has published pieces littered with falsehoods that reinforce the opposition's narrative promoting regime change while relying almost entirely on anti-Sandinista sources.</font>" <p>I'm betting this collusion doesn't get the "Russia" treatment: "<a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-firm-proposed-social-media-manipulation-campaign-for-trump-report/">Israeli firm pitched social media manipulation to Trump campaign &mdash; report</a>: <font color=maroon>New York Times publishes proposals from Psy-Group, including creating fake accounts to target would-be Hillary Clinton and Ted Cruz backers.</font>" <p>RIP: "<a href="http://www.lubbockonline.com/news/20181001/peggy-sue-gerron-inspiration-for-buddy-holly-song-dies-in-lubbock"><b>Peggy Sue Gerron</b>, inspiration for Buddy Holly song, dies in Lubbock</a>," at 78. She also was a locally celebrated ham radio operator, and became the first female licensed plumber in California. <p>Great episode of <em>Citations Needed</em>, "<a href="https://soundcloud.com/citationsneeded/episode-42-populism-the-medias-favorite-catch-all-smear-for-the-left">'Populism' - The Media's Favorite Catch-All Smear for the Left</a>: <font color=maroon>But what exactly is populism? How is a term that allegedly applies to Hugo Chávez and Bernie Sanders also casually used to describe fascists and far-right forces? Under the thin, ideology-flattening definition of populism, the term is more often than not used as a euphemism for demagogic cults of personality and fascism and as the ultimate horseshoe theory reduction to lump together movements for equity and justice on the Left with those of revanchism, nationalism and explicit racism on the Right. We are joined on this episode by writer and historian Thomas Frank.</font>" <p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/veechattie/posts/503347223409701">Vincent Chatworth</a> on Facebook: <font color=maroon>"Kamala Harris was one of the driving forces behind #SESTA and #FOSTA, the legislation that shut down the websites that sex workers use to feed their families and stay safe. Since the shut down of #backpage and other websites, screening clients had gotten way more difficult. The websites we use to report abusers have had to change to the point that they are now useless to us. So many women had to go back out on the street after BP shut down and just in the past couple months, two sex workers (that we know of) have been murdered in Seattle.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Kamala Harris was THE prosecutor who went after BP before she was elected to the senate. She was the driving force behind SESTA/FOSTA but kept her involvement very hush hush to the point that she didn't even put her name as a co sponsor up until it was almost done. That bill made internet platforms criminally liable for the things it's users write AND gives the government and law enforcement the power to shut down and prosecute the owners of any website they deem to be 'promoting human trafficking'. The definition of suspected human trafficking is so vague, that it basically allows them to shut down whatever they want without due process. The two top industries that funded her campaign are lawyers/law firms and tv/movies/music. Time warner was her top contributor. These are two industries which stand to profit HEAVILY from SESTA. Lawyers get more work because there are more people being arrested w much more serious charges. Companies like Time Warner and Comcast have already gotten a huge boost from the demise of #netneutrality (basically they can choose to slow down your internet speeds if you visit a website that they do not own making it much harder for independent content creators to be seen). With the passage of SESTA/FOSTA, internet providers now have even more control through that hand of Senator like Harris.</font>" <p>Sean McElwee <a href="https://twitter.com/SeanMcElwee/status/1047476112027213824">tweeted</a>: <font color=maroon>A team of intrepid economists just perpetrated a giant version of the Sokal Hoax, call it Sokal Cubed. They proved that for $1,500 an hour, economic models can be manipulated into defending literally anything, including anti-competitive corporate mergers.</font>" The article, from Jesse Eisinger and Justin Elliott at <em>Pro Publica</em>, is "<a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/these-professors-make-more-than-thousand-bucks-hour-peddling-mega-mergers">These Professors Make More Than a Thousand Bucks an Hour Peddling Mega-Mergers</a>: <font color=maroon>The economists are leveraging their academic prestige with secret reports justifying corporate concentration. Their predictions are often wrong and consumers pay the price.</font>" Imagine my surprise at seeing this: "<font color=maroon>ONE EVENING IN 1977, University of Chicago law professor Richard Posner hosted a colleague from the economics department and a young law student named Andrew Rosenfield at his apartment in Hyde Park. The leading scholar of the 'Law and Economics' movement, Posner wanted to apply rigorous math and economics concepts to the real world.</font>" So many evil things can be traced back to these people. <p>But I missed Adam Liptak's "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/11/us/politics/judge-richard-posner-retirement.html?mcubz=3">An Exit Interview With Richard Posner, Judicial Provocateur</a>" last year when it came out upon Posner's retirement, and it does refer to a phenomenon I have noticed and remarked on before &mdash; the increasingly more sensible and less nasty positions Posner seemed to be taking of late. He doesn't go into it in much depth, but he certainly seems to have had a change of heart late in life. "<font color=maroon>'About six months ago,' Judge Posner said, 'I awoke from a slumber of 35 years.' He had suddenly realized, he said, that people without lawyers are mistreated by the legal system, and he wanted to do something about it.</font>" <p>Shamus Khan <a href="https://twitter.com/shamuskhan/status/1046371146164244480">tweeted</a>: "<font color=maroon>Thread on my thoughts re: elites: I think elite schooling can help develop real talents in people. But here's the thing: the idea that those talents are 'inherent' vs 'cultivated as a result of investments' is where I take serious issue. The consequences are really important</font>" Now go read the thread. <p>For a little background on what kind of a frat Kavanaugh belonged to, "<a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/yale-delta-kappa-epsilon-2018-1">The frat barred from Yale for 5 years is back &mdash; and women are saying they warn one another to stay away</a>: <font color=maroon>Yale's Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity was barred for five years after a profane video of brothers chanting about women, rape, and consent emerged online.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2018/10/thats-hell-act-call.html">'That's a hell of an act. What do you call it?'</a> <font color=maroon>Fuzzy-edged though differences between generations are, surely one difference between people of my own age and those born after 9/11 is their experience of 'security.' I never went through a metal detector in school; never in my wildest dreams would I have thought this country would come to that. And as for airports! Anyhow, this Zeitgeist Watch anecdote that a friend threw over the transom starts out being about security. But there's a plot twist!</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/10/large-majorities-dislike-political-correctness/572581/">Americans Strongly Dislike PC Culture</a>: <font color=maroon>Youth isn't a good proxy for support of political correctness, and race isn't either.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Whites are ever so slightly less likely than average to believe that political correctness is a problem in the country: 79 percent of them share this sentiment. Instead, it is Asians (82 percent), Hispanics (87percent), and American Indians (88 percent) who are most likely to oppose political correctness.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>The one part of the standard narrative that the data partially affirm is that African Americans are most likely to support political correctness. But the difference between them and other groups is much smaller than generally supposed: Three quarters of African Americans oppose political correctness. This means that they are only four percentage points less likely than whites, and only five percentage points less likely than the average, to believe that political correctness is a problem.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.lawcha.org/2016/11/23/bill-clinton-remade-democratic-party-abandoning-unions-working-class-whites/">How Bill Clinton Remade the Democratic Party by Abandoning Unions: An Arkansas Story</a>: <font color=maroon>Much has been made in the recent campaign about the alienation of working-class whites from the Democratic Party. Michael Pierce shows this is a path long traveled; Bill Clinton undermined the budding multi-racial labor coalition in 1970s Arkansas. In a horrendous election night for the Hillary Clinton, the only bright spot was Nevada, where Culinary Workers Union Local 226's massive get-out-the-vote operation ensured that the state's six electoral votes went into the Democratic column. Not only did the local get their Hispanic, Asian, African-American, and white members to the polls but its sophisticated operation also rallied other members of Nevada's diverse working-class. In much of the rest of the country, the working-class voters &mdash; especially white ones &mdash; stayed home, alienated from both a Democratic candidate who made little effort to address their economic concerns and a Republican candidate who stirred up hate. Class-based union-led mobilization operations like the one in Nevada have become rare, but they were central to the Democratic Party's successes from the 1930s through the 1980s even in what are now deep red states like Arkansas. The irony is that the decline of such mobilization efforts can be traced back to Bill Clinton and his activities in 1970s Arkansas, when he and his allies began undermining the labor movement and its efforts to educate working-class voters and get them to the polls on behalf of the Democratic Party. Not only did Bill Clinton refuse to support efforts to strengthen unions at a time when local companies like Walmart and Tyson Foods were becoming more aggressive in their 'union avoidance' methods, but he also began to bait the labor movement to gain electoral advantage. He would ride his Arkansas strategies into the White House in 1992, transforming the Democratic Party along the way.</font>" <p>I'm not sure whether I linked this in 2014 when it first appeared, but it seems apropos of the moment and in my continuing mission to remind people of just what a disaster the Obama-Geithner administration was for us, here's Matt Stoller's review of Geithner's book <em>Stress Test: Reflections on Financial Crises</em>, "<a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/xd5vz4/tim-geithner-and-the-con-artist-wing-of-the-democratic-party">The Con-Artist Wing of the Democratic Party</a>: <font color=maroon>The most consequential event of this young century has been the financial crisis. This is a catchall term that means three different things: an economic housing boom and bust, a financial meltdown, and a political response in which bailouts were showered upon the very institutions that were responsible for the chaos. We will be seeing the fallout for decades. Today, in Europe, far-right fascist parties are on the rise, climbing the unhappiness that the crisis-induced austerity has unleashed. China is looking away from the West as a model of development. In the US, Congress is more popular than certain sexually transmitted infections* but little else, and all institutions of national power are losing their legitimacy. At the same time, the financial system did not, in the end, collapse, and there was no repeat of the Great Depression.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>I'll address both of these, since they are intertwined. For as I read the book, and compared the book with what was written at the time and what was written afterwards, I noticed something odd, and perhaps too bold to say in polite company. As much as I really wanted to hear what Geithner had to say, I quickly realized that I wasn't getting his actual side of the story. The book is full of narratives, facts, and statements that are, well, untrue, or at the very least, highly misleading. Despite its length, there are also serious omissions that suggest an intention to mislead, as well as misrepresentations of his critics' arguments. As I went further into Geithner's narrative, even back into his college days, I got the sense that I was seeing only a brilliantly scrubbed surface, that there were nooks and crannies hidden away. It struck me that I was reading the memoirs of an incredibly savvy and well-bred grifter, the kind that the American WASP establishment of financiers, foundation officials, and spies produces in such rich abundance. I realize this is a bold claim, because it's an indictment not just of Geithner but also of those who worked for him at Treasury and at the Federal Reserve, as well as indictment of the Clinton-era finance team of Robert Rubin, Larry Summers, Alan Greenspan, Michael Barr, Jason Furman, and other accomplices. That's why this review is somewhat long, as it's an attempt to back up such a broad and sweeping claim. I will also connect it to what Geithner is doing now: working in the same kind of financial business that made Mitt Romney a near billionaire.</font>" <p>But lest we forget, the Democratic Party was deciding to enable the Republicans just as the right-wing was putting forward it's radical plans to destroy democracy, "<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20010713152425/http://www.freecongress.org/centers/conservatism/traditionalist.htm#3a">The Integration of Theory and Practice: A Program for the New Traditionalist Movement</a>" is an old document that is chilling to read now. "<font color=maroon>Our movement will be entirely destructive, and entirely constructive. We will not try to reform the existing institutions. We only intend to weaken them, and eventually destroy them. We will endeavor to knock our opponents off-balance and unsettle them at every opportunity. All of our constructive energies will be dedicated to the creation of our own institutions.</font>" <p>Umar Haque, "<a href="https://eand.co/the-big-crunch-3f774ba261fe">The Big Crunch: Why Predatory Capitalism is Exploding into Fascism, in Every Corner of the Globe</a>: <font color=maroon>I've often said that the rise of global fascism would be the defining event of our adult lifetimes &mdash; and, understandably, I guess, considering Americans and their need to feel superior, I was often met with skepticism, if not outright derision. Yet here it is. Like dominoes: America &mdash; where genuine Nazis now sit in government &mdash; in Italy, Poland, Turkey, Hungary. Neo-Nazis marching in Germany. Even in Sweden, a kind of absurd, pathetic extremist nationalism is surging.</font>" <p>Howard Zinn, October 21, 2005, "<a href="https://progressive.org/op-eds/howard-zinn-despair-supreme-court/">Don't Despair about the Supreme Court</a> [...] <font color=maroon>It would be naive to depend on the Supreme Court to defend the rights of poor people, women, people of color, dissenters of all kinds. Those rights only come alive when citizens organize, protest, demonstrate, strike, boycott, rebel, and violate the law in order to uphold justice. The distinction between law and justice is ignored by all those Senators--Democrats and Republicans--who solemnly invoke as their highest concern "the rule of law." The law can be just; it can be unjust. It does not deserve to inherit the ultimate authority of the divine right of the king. The Constitution gave no rights to working people: no right to work less than twelve hours a day, no right to a living wage, no right to safe working conditions. Workers had to organize, go on strike, defy the law, the courts, the police, create a great movement which won the eight-hour day, and caused such commotion that Congress was forced to pass a minimum wage law, and Social Security, and unemployment insurance. The Brown decision on school desegregation did not come from a sudden realization of the Supreme Court that this is what the Fourteenth Amendment called for. After all, it was the same Fourteenth Amendment that had been cited in the Plessy case upholding racial segregation. It was the initiative of brave families in the South--along with the fear by the government, obsessed with the Cold War, that it was losing the hearts and minds of colored people all over the world--that brought a sudden enlightenment to the Court.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>No Supreme Court, liberal or conservative, will stop the war in Iraq, or redistribute the wealth of this country, or establish free medical care for every human being. Such fundamental change will depend, the experience of the past suggests, on the actions of an aroused citizenry, demanding that the promise of the Declaration of Independence--an equal right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness--be fulfilled.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destinations/asia/uzbekistan/pictures-tashkent-metro-underground/">Inside Uzbekistan's beautiful, rarely-seen metro</a>: <font color=maroon>After a 40-year photo ban, images finally reveal Tashkent's symbolic underground.</font>" <p><a href="https://youtu.be/2ZSXlNRRoGU">Good Omens - Official Teaser Trailer</a> <p>Van Morrison, "<a href="https://youtu.be/6lFxGBB4UGU">Moondance</a>"Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-49195979029697855022018-09-30T21:02:00.001+01:002018-10-04T14:33:35.730+01:00The streets are fields that never die<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nmE0IEXpyPQ/W7ErUeN5hrI/AAAAAAAAB6Q/ENuwZWo9HQE0I58RRpyjuIJHvAnAUKE1ACLcBGAs/s1600/Rochelle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nmE0IEXpyPQ/W7ErUeN5hrI/AAAAAAAAB6Q/ENuwZWo9HQE0I58RRpyjuIJHvAnAUKE1ACLcBGAs/s320/Rochelle.jpg" width="240" height="320" data-original-width="720" data-original-height="960" title="Photo by Rochelle Dorey"/></a></div> <p>It started like this: "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/09/12/brett-kavanaugh-confirmation-dianne-feinstein/">Dianne Feinstein Withholding Brett Kavanaugh Document From Fellow Judiciary Committee Democrats</a>: <font color=maroon>DEMOCRATS ON THE Senate Judiciary Committee have privately requested to view a Brett Kavanaugh-related document in possession of the panel's top Democrat, Dianne Feinstein, but the senior California senator has so far refused, according to multiple sources familiar with the situation.</font>" It soon transpired that a woman said Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when she was in high school. It then instantly developed that the GOP just happened to have a letter signed by 65 women who purported to know him then and claimed he had always been a perfect gentleman with them. You know, I went to a public high school and for one year I went to an all-girls school, and I don't think I could find 65 women I knew from high school. Brett Kavanaugh went to Georgetown Prep, a boys' school. (Kavanaugh also recently claimed to have grown up in a rough neighborhood. That would be Bethesda, Maryland, which never had any rough neighborhoods.) Atrios has <a href="https://www.eschatonblog.com/2018/09/the-shit-shotgun.html">the next ridiculous chapter</a>. <p>Yes, okay, Kavanaugh cemented his reputation as a serial perjurer and should be impeached. (If you need some catharsis, I recommend Sam Seder's interview with <a href="https://youtu.be/g7Jf7RQAoLg">Judy Gold</a> on Friday's <em>Majority Report</em>.) Meanwhile.... <p>"<a href="https://medium.com/@JonathanCohn/while-you-werent-paying-attention-the-house-of-representatives-just-voted-to-expand-the-patriot-eddcbdc2f89e">Buried in an Overloaded and Terrible News Cycle: The House of Representatives Just Voted to Expand the PATRIOT Act</a>. <font color=maroon>Nonetheless, it passed 297 to 124, clearing the 2/3 threshold it would have needed to pass under suspension by 16 votes. Republicans voted 202 to 29 in favor of the bill. Democrats split evenly: 95 in favor and 95 against.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/09/28/nation-transfixed-kavanaugh-monstrosity-house-gop-votes-give-rich-another-3-trillion">With Nation Transfixed By Kavanaugh Monstrosity, House GOP Votes to Give Rich Another $3 Trillion in Tax Cuts</a>: <font color=maroon>'This is yet another shameful tax law that would swindle working families and siphon even more funding from the programs that help our communities thrive.'</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Three Democrats&mdash; Reps. Conor Lamb (Penn.), Jacky Rosen (Nev.), and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) &mdash; voted for the GOP-crafted measure, which would permanently extend the individual tax cuts under the current Republican tax law.</font>" <p>Voter turnout in New York was enormous and though Cynthia Nixon lost, she did get more votes than Cuomo won with in the previous election. Sadly, Zephyr Teachout also lost in her bid to be State AG. Curiously, there were many "<a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/reports-of-widespread-voter-suppression-in-new-york-state-democratic-primary/ar-BBNit5y?ocid=sf">Reports of Widespread Voter Suppression in New York State Democratic Primary</a>" and we wonder if that explains the results, since we're not hearing it from Cuomo voters. But the good news is that most of the right-wing Dems who'd been caucusing with the Republicans (IDC) lost their seats, so Cuomo may have a harder time preventing progressive change in the future. <p>If you ever doubted that Michael Bloomberg is a creep (though I don't see how you could), he's obviously afraid Bernie will win this time and is already making noises about exploring a presidential bid himself. For <a href="http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2018/09/liberty-fraternity-plutocracy">Liberty, Fraternity, Plutocracy</a>, "<font color=maroon>Bloomberg would be less than a month from turning 79 when inaugurated. Also $50 billion is $50 million times 1000. If he runs I do expect him to become the darling of reactionary centrists and Third Way doofi, who collectively make up 2.72% of the U.S. population and 38.67% of all elite media pundts.</font>" Only a few months younger than Sanders, too. He threatened a third-party run last time if Sanders got the Democratic nomination. He might actually do it this time and grab the H8% vote. <p>David Dayen, "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/09/29/joseph-otting-occ-onewest-bank-merger-cit/">The Fake Public Comments Supporting A Bank Merger Are Coming From Inside The House</a>: <font color=maroon>COMMENTS SUBMITTED TO a top banking regulator supporting a 2015 merger between OneWest Bank and CIT Bank were attributed to people who never sent them, according to documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act and reviewed by The Intercept. The fake comments appear to be tied directly to Joseph Otting, the head of the regulatory agency himself. The documents reviewed by The Intercept show that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the main bank regulator for nationally chartered banks, knew about the fake comments at the time, before it approved the merger. But the OCC appears to have done no meaningful investigation of the matter, and even cited public support for the merger when approving it.</font>" So, "the public" is his sock puppet. <p>"<a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/ted-cruz-beto-orourke-quick-to-blame-dallas-officer_us_5ba02adfe4b046313fbe558c">Sen. Ted Cruz Calls Rival Beto O'Rourke 'Quick' To Blame Dallas Cop Who Killed Botham Jean</a>. Beto says the officer who seems to have misplaced her own apartment, and instantly killing the tenant of the one she was trying to get into when he opened the door, should be fired. This sounds fair considering how unprofessional her behavior was, but Cruz has a novel approach to employee termination policy: "<font color=maroon>'The individual ... was at home in his apartment and found himself murdered,' Cruz said, using a bizarre choice of words. Guyger 'may have been in the wrong. She's facing legal proceedings, and if a jury of her peers concludes that she behaved wrongly, then she'll face the consequences.'</font>" The jury can decide whether she goes to jail, but I've never heard of anyone getting a jury of their peers to decide whether they should be fired - that responsibility is in the hands of your bosses, not your peers. <p>"<a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/151331/brady-rule-plea-bargaining-wrongful-convictions">The Senseless Legal Precedent That Enables Wrongful Convictions</a>: <font color=maroon>A federal appeals court has ruled that prosecutors can withhold evidence that may prove defendants innocent before they plead guilty.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Prosecutors are obligated under what's known as the Brady rule to disclose any evidence in the government's possession that may benefit a defendant's case. The rule takes its name from the landmark 1963 case Brady v. Maryland, where the Supreme Court held that withholding exculpatory evidence violated a defendant's right to due process under the Fourteenth Amendment. But the lower courts are divided on whether that also applies to the plea-bargaining process. The Supreme Court itself has never ruled on the matter.</font>" But how can they be divided on whether they should proceed with a prosecution when they aren't reasonably sure they have the guilty party in the first place - especially when there may be exculpatory evidence? What kind of thinking is even going on there? <p><a href="https://youtu.be/Mw46J5F4T_c">Chris Hayes and Michael Moore, Town Hall in Flint Michigan</a> <p>On <em>The Majority Report</em>, <br>&bullet; Sammy interviewed Dday on <a href="https://youtu.be/dlukIJdIZrY">Tim Geithner: The Villain Who Protected Wall Street, w/ David Dayen - MR Live - 9/12/18</a><br>&bullet; <a href="https://youtu.be/TEtNqHUE_2Q">How Fascism Works, w/ Jason Stanley</a><br>&bullet; <a href="https://youtu.be/NsE-W1tVE10">Crashed: How A Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World, w/ Adam Tooze</a><br>&bullet; <a href="https://youtu.be/jAslo3PFQn0">Temp: How the Temp Economy Took Over America w/ Louis Hyman - MR Live - 9/25/18</a> <p><em>The Michael Brooks Show</em>: <br><a href="https://youtu.be/XVQjdmb8VAo">Brazil's Fascist Right &amp; the Attack on Lula</a> <p>Did I mention <a href="https://youtu.be/bXK9JQnvVLo">Deficit Owls</a>? They're not hawks (who want lots of austerity), and they're not doves (who want a little less austerity). They are wise. <p><a href="https://youtu.be/51Arlvr45kY">What Modern Money Theory is NOT Saying</a> <p><a href="https://youtu.be/U40lgte_dhU">Over 150 Democrats are introducing the Expand Social Security Caucus</a> (video) <p>I don't have a pull-quote from this one, but <a href="https://taibbi.substack.com/p/preface-an-interview-with-noam-chomsky-the-fairway">Matt Taibbi talked to Noam Chomsky</a>, and some of you will be happy to know it's text, not video. <p>"<a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/labour-to-vote-on-bringing-back-clause-four-pledge-to-nationalise-industries_uk_5b9bf625e4b013b0977a82d0">Labour To Vote On Bringing Back 'Clause Four' Pledge To Nationalise Industries</a>: <font color=maroon>Labour is set to vote on restoring the party's historic Clause Four pledge to nationalise key industries following a grassroots campaign by activists, HuffPost can reveal. The commitment to 'common ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange' was famously axed by Tony Blair when he created New Labour in the 1990s. But local constituency parties have now tabled motions for its restoration that will guarantee the issue appears on the agenda at the party conference.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.globalresearch.ca/europe-just-voted-to-wreck-the-internet-spying-on-everything-and-censoring-vast-swathes-of-our-communications/5654071">Europe Just Voted to Wreck the Internet, Spying on Everything and Censoring Vast Swathes of Our Communications</a>." I read this and just thought, "No, that's crazy, it can't be true." But I suppose it can. Not sure how to live with this one. <p>"<a href="http://loweringthebar.net/2018/09/rejectee-sues-re-magna-carta.html">Rejected Applicant Sues Law Schools for Violating Magna Carta</a> [...] <font color=maroon>According to the complaint, the plaintiff applied to at least 24 law schools, or tried to, but was not admitted to any. While there may well have been other reasons for that, it was enough that Plaintiff had refused to take the LSAT, which most if not all schools require.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>What exactly did the defendants do wrong, you are probably asking. Well, first, the ABA has apparently broken a promise it made to Eleanor Roosevelt in 1947 to the effect that it and its members would comply with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (Which was adopted in 1948, but it could have promised her before that.) Beyond that &mdash; not that anything else is really necessary &mdash; Plaintiff alleges that not admitting him to law school constituted various torts including trespass, 'trespass on the case,' intentional infliction of emotional distress, bad faith, trover (!), and the best of the formal causes of action, 'failure to provide a Republican form of government.'</font>" <p>@MMFlint has a new movie out, and Glenn Greenwald reviews it at <em>The Intercept</em>. "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/09/21/michael-moores-fahrenheit-119-aims-not-at-trump-but-at-those-who-created-the-conditions-that-led-to-his-rise/">Michael Moore's <em>Fahrenheit 11/9</em> Aims Not at Trump But at Those Who Created the Conditions That Led to His Rise</a>: <font color=maroon><em>Fahrenheit 11/9</em> the title of Michael Moore's new film that opens today in theaters, is an obvious play on the title of his wildly profitable Bush-era <em>Fahrenheit 11/9</em> but also a reference to the date of Donald J. Trump's 2016 election victory. Despite that, Trump himself is a secondary figure in Moore's film, which is far more focused on the far more relevant and interesting questions of what &mdash; and, critically, who &mdash; created the climate in which someone like Trump could occupy the Oval Office. For that reason alone, Moore's film is highly worthwhile regardless of where one falls on the political spectrum. The single most significant defect in U.S. political discourse is the monomaniacal focus on Trump himself, as though he is the cause &mdash; rather than the by-product and symptom &mdash; of decades-old systemic American pathologies. Personalizing and isolating Trump as the principal, even singular, source of political evil is obfuscating and thus deceitful. By effect, if not design, it distracts the population's attention away from the actual architects of their plight.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Embedded in the instruction of those who want to you focus exclusively on Trump is an insidious and toxic message: namely, removing Trump will cure, or at least mitigate, the acute threats he poses. That is a fraud, and Moore knows it. Unless and until the roots of these pathologies are identified and addressed, we are certain to have more Trumps: in fact, more effective and more dangerous Trumps, along with more potent Dutertes, and more Brexits, and more Bolsonaros and more LePens.</font>" <p>RIP: "<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/sep/28/marty-balin-jefferson-airplane-musician-dies"><b>Marty Balin</b>, musician and Jefferson Airplane co-founder, dies aged 76</a>." This seems like a good time for a musical interlude, and a pretty song: "<a href="https://youtu.be/Uokp0aEiT-A">Today</a>". <p>RIP: "<a href="https://jazztimes.com/news/bassist-max-bennett-dies-at-90/">Bassist <b>Max Bennett</b> Dies at 90</a>: <font color=maroon>His varied career included stints with Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, and the L.A. Express.</font>" <p>Amazingly, this article appeared at Bloomberg: "<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-06-13/unions-did-great-things-for-the-american-working-class">Unions Did Great Things for the Working Class</a>: <font color=maroon>Strengthening them could blunt inequality and wage stagnation.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.creators.com/read/ted-rall/08/15/la-police-union-bought-newspaper-stock-used-leverage-to-try-to-fire-editorial-staffers-it-accused-of-being-anti-police">L.A. Police Union Bought Newspaper Stock, Used Leverage to Try to Fire Editorial Staffers It Accused of Being Anti-Police</a>" &mdash; Ted Rall thinks he's found out why <em>The Los Angeles Times</em> fired him. <p>From the NYT Opinion page, "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/19/opinion/the-truth-in-trumps-law-enforcement-hypocrisy.html">The Truth in Trump's Law-Enforcement Hypocrisy</a>: <font color=maroon>As a public defender, I'm not mad at how well Manafort and Cohen have been treated. I just want that same treatment for my clients.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Needless to say, Mr. Trump's apparent justice renaissance has nothing to do with how our criminal justice system actually operates, and has always operated, for communities of color and people living in poverty, the vast majority of those who face arrest and prosecution in this country. No, he is outraged by how the system treats his friends. Still, it would be a mistake to dismiss his outrage over the government's ability to turn a person's life upside down as mere hypocrisy. I understand President Trump's outrage. It is remarkable that people, presumed innocent, are locked up before being convicted of any crime. It is deeply unfair that mere accusations can lead to devastating, lifelong consequences. It is alarming that, in a system theoretically built around transparency and truth seeking, police and prosecutors have such outsize power to surveil, search, detain, bully, coerce and nearly destroy a person without producing evidence sufficient to secure a conviction.</font>" <p>Dean Baker, "<a href="http://cepr.net/blogs/beat-the-press/nyt-is-badly-mistaken-china-has-many-many-options-in-trade-war-with-trump">NYT Is Badly Mistaken: China Has Many Many Options in Trade War with Trump</a>: <font color=maroon>The NYT erred badly with an article that told readers, "China Once Looked Tough on Trade: Now Its Options Are Dwindling." The article claims that China is running out of ways to retaliate against Trump's tariffs because it imports so much less from the United States than the United States imports from China. In fact, China has many other ways to retaliate. The most effective would probably be to stop paying attention to patent and copyright claims of US corporations. It can encourage domestic Chinese companies to make millions of copies of Windows-based computers, without paying a penny to Microsoft. It can do the same with iPhones and Apple. In fact, it can encourage Chinese companies to export these unauthorized copies all over the world, destroying Microsoft's and Apple's markets in third countries. It can do the same with fertilizers and pesticides, making Monsanto and other chemical giants unhappy. And, it can do this with Pfizer and Merck's drugs, flooding the world with low-cost generic drugs. Even a short period of generic availability may do permanent damage to these companies' markets.</font>" <p>I'd been wondering where Hillbots were getting claims of the Sanders campaign keeping lots of illegal funds, and now I know: <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-primary-616682">Hillary Clinton Supporters Filed A Complaint Against Bernie Sanders &mdash; And Lost</a> [...] <font color=maroon>The complaint alleged that Sanders, an independent, and his campaign treasurer, Susan Jackson, accepted excessive contributions. Under Title 52 of federal campaign finance rules, no individual can make a contribution to a candidate in excess of $2,700. The FEC's decision was addressed to Brad Woodhouse, founder of the American Democracy Legal Fund and president of the pro-Clinton super PAC Correct the Record. Both the ADLF and the super PAC were founded by prominent Clinton supporter and Media Matters founder David Brock. 'On April 20, 2017, the Federal Election Commission reviewed the allegations in your complaint received on April 8, 2016, and on the basis of the information provided in your complaint, and information provided by Bernie 2016 and Susan Jackson in her official capacity as treasurer, the Commission voted to dismiss the allegation that the Committee violated 52 U.S.C. § 30116(f),'</font>" It's even funnier when you read how tiny the amounts were - it looks like a few people lost track of how many $27 contributions they'd sent in and sent one or two more than they should have. The campaign sent it back as required by law, so no big deal. It's hard to believe the Clinton campaign could be so petty. <p>"<a href="https://ghionjournal.com/aaron-mate-is-a-beast/">Aaron Mat&eacute; is a Beast!</a> <font color=maroon>This statement was admiringly blurted out by political vlogger Jamarl Thomas on his program The Progressive Soapbox last week. What he was talking about was a recent interview that Aaron Maté, producer, journalist and on-air talent at Paul Jay's Real News Network, did with veteran journalist James Risen, currently of <em>The Intercept</em>. What did they discuss? The jailing of Reality Winner &mdash; Risen's source for a leaked NSA document about potential Russian digital interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential primary.</font>" Risen was perfectly comfortable with talking about how ridiculous it was that Winner was jailed &mdash; without any trial &mdash; for exposing what should just have been an ordinary public service advisory in any case. But the moment Mat&eacute; started discussing the actual content of the material Winner released, Risen got his back up. Now, you can say it's not surprising that there's a bit of nervousness about the topic after <em>The Intercept</em>'s mishandling of publishing the information in such a way that it was they who exposed Winner by publishing raw code from her communication without redaction, but that didn't seem to be Risen's problem. Mat&eacute; wanted to talk about just how small a bombshell Winner's leak really was, nowhere in proportion to the reaction it got. Curiously, Risen was so offended by the idea that Winner's leak was only the flimsiest evidence that a phishing expedition from a Gmail account was evidence of a Russian plot that he threatened to terminate the interview in a huff. Do watch the video, it's brow-furrowing, and Mat&eacute; deserves the kudos for his handling of Risen. <p>David Dayen in <em>In These Times</em>, "<a href="http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/21440/financial_crisis_lehman_brothers_anniversary">Retrospectives of the Financial Crisis Are Leaving Out the Most Important Part &mdash; Its Victims</a>: <font color=maroon>Because I'm a masochist, I've read as many retrospectives as I could about the 10th anniversary of the fateful failure of Lehman Brothers, the emblematic event of the financial crisis. And I can't help but notice a gaping hole in the narratives. I've heard from Lew Ranieri, the Salomon Brothers trader who invented the mortgage bond in the 1980s, and now regrets it. I've heard bailout architects Ben Bernanke, Hank Paulson, and Tim Geithner justify their beliefs in doing whatever it took to save the banks. I've endured you-are-there narratives about bankers and policymakers racing to rescue the financial system. Wonks, pundits, and reporters have all offered thoughts on the crisis' origins, the response, and its ultimate meaning. It seems the only people not consulted for their perspective were those most powerfully affected by the crisis' impact &mdash; the millions of families who suffered foreclosure and eviction.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://theconversation.com/neoliberal-epidemics-the-spread-of-austerity-obesity-stress-and-inequality-46416">Neoliberal epidemics: the spread of austerity, obesity, stress and inequality</a> [...] <font color=maroon>In our new book, we draw on an extensive body of scientific literature to assess the health effects of three decades of neoliberal policies. Focusing on the social determinants of health &mdash; the conditions of life and work that make it relatively easy for some people to lead long and healthy lives, while it is all but impossible for others &mdash; we show that there are four interconnected neoliberal epidemics: austerity, obesity, stress, and inequality. They are neoliberal because they are associated with or worsened by neoliberal policies. They are epidemics because they are observable on such an international scale and have been transmitted so quickly across time and space that if they were biological contagions they would be seen as of epidemic proportions.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/09/20/deregulation-wall-street-plain-and-simple-corruption/">Deregulation of Wall Street Is Plain and Simple Corruption</a> [...] <font color=maroon>These sweeping attacks on financial and consumer protections won't make America greater. They'll make it crater, setting the stage for the next Wall Street crisis and very likely another round of taxpayer-funded bank bailouts.</font>" <p>Historical Note: Let's not have any more mythology about who gave us CHIPS. March 14, 1997, in <em>The New York Times</em>, after Bill Clinton had gutted the much better AFDC/TANF provision, "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/14/us/hatch-joins-kennedy-to-back-a-health-program.html">Hatch Joins Kennedy to Back a Health Program</a>: <font color=maroon>Senator Orrin G. Hatch, a conservative Republican, today embraced a major Democratic effort to provide health insurance for half of the nation's 10 million uninsured children, saying he would become the chief sponsor of the legislation. Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, wrote much of the bill, which would increase the Federal tax on tobacco products to finance health care for children.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.wired.com/story/wired25-david-karpf-issues-tech-predictions/">25 Years Of <em>Wired</em> Predictions: Why The Future Never Arrives</a>: <font color=maroon>To write the history of how our culture thinks about tomorrow, one obsessed academic read every issue of <em>Wired</em> in chronological order. Here are his findings.</font>" <p>Someone wrote an update of Phil Ochs' "<a href="https://youtu.be/GqNxne97ubc">Love me, I'm a Liberal</a>." <p>The Doors, <a href="https://youtu.be/dTkPOt2L7sI">"The Crystal Ship" and "Light My Fire" w/ Dick Clark</a>Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-40775645195593370932018-09-13T00:21:00.003+01:002018-09-13T00:21:43.008+01:00I'd love to turn you on<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p6k5zBKUDPo/W5mfbcpN98I/AAAAAAAAB58/Q6DcJJ9qxSskonaPkmvTK4EcuHmbOxvjgCLcBGAs/s1600/AutumnSquash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p6k5zBKUDPo/W5mfbcpN98I/AAAAAAAAB58/Q6DcJJ9qxSskonaPkmvTK4EcuHmbOxvjgCLcBGAs/s320/AutumnSquash.jpg" width="320" height="320" data-original-width="320" data-original-height="320" /></a></div> <p>"<a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/09/judge-brett-kavanaugh-should-be-impeached-for-lying-during-his-confirmation-hearings.html">I Wrote Some of the Stolen Memos That Brett Kavanaugh Lied to the Senate About</a>: <font color=maroon>He should be impeached, not elevated.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>No, Kavanaugh should be removed because he was repeatedly asked under oath as part of his 2004 and 2006 confirmation hearings for his position on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit about whether he had received such information from Miranda, and each time he falsely denied it.</font>" <p>Chuck Schumer is a menace who should be removed from leadership immediately. David Dayen describes the idiot Senator from New York's latest "deal-making" at <em>The American Prospect</em>, "<a href="http://prospect.org/article/schumer-surrenders">Schumer Surrenders</a>: <font color=maroon>The Democrats' Senate leader lets Mitch McConnell pack the courts.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>None of this has anything to do with how liberal Schumer or his caucus either is or isn't. It's all about tactics. In the minority, McConnell made life miserable for Senate Democrats, minimizing their output. Schumer has simply not stepped up with the same aggression. As a result, McConnell has been able to outmaneuver his counterpart repeatedly, with wide-ranging consequences for all Americans. Where have you gone, Harry Reid? Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/09/04/nancy-pelosi-2018-midterms-democrats/">Nancy Pelosi Promises That Democrats Will Handcuff The Democratic Agenda If They Retake The House</a>: <font color=maroon>IN THE FIRST outline of the legislative agenda House Democrats would pursue if they take the majority in November, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has made the public a big promise, vowing to handcuff her party's progressive ambitions, including in the event that a Democratic president succeeds Donald Trump, by resurrecting the 'pay-go' rule that mandates all new spending is offset with budget cuts or tax increases. Along the way, she is playing into the hands of Republican strategists eager to warn voters that Democrats' top priority is raising taxes. Forcing budget offsets for every piece of legislation would make it more difficult for Democrats to pass a host of liberal agenda items, from 'Medicare for All' to tuition-free public college. It continues a trend of Democrats caring far more about deficits than Republicans, constraining the activist impulses of liberal policymakers while giving conservatives free rein to blow giant holes in the tax code.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/09/05/progressives-denounce-pelosi-obsession-economically-illiterate-and-politically/">Progressives Denounce Pelosi for Obsession With 'Economically Illiterate and Politically Insane' Pay-Go Rule</a>: <font color=maroon>'Instead of vowing budget chastity, Democrats should be articulating an agenda that excites voters so that they can unleash the full power of the public purse on their behalf.'</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2018/08/28/gillum-scores-stunning-victory-in-democratic-nomination-for-governor/">Andrew Gillum scores stunning victory in Democratic nomination for Florida governor</a>: <font color=maroon>The progressive mayor of Tallahassee overwhelmed his rivals in Miami-Dade, Broward and Duval counties -- all key battlegrounds. TALLAHASSEE &mdash; Democrat Andrew Gillum rode a surge of liberal support from young people and African-Americans to a stunning primary victory Tuesday and the historic opportunity to be the first black governor in Florida's history.</font>" Some of his tweets in the ensuing week, however, have taken the shine off. <p>"<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/ayanna-pressley-defeats-10-term-incumbent-mike-capuano-democratic-primary-n906441">Ayanna Pressley defeats 10-term incumbent Mike Capuano in Democratic primary in Massachusetts</a>: <font color=maroon>It's another upset for insurgent left, which has had its biggest successes when people of color embrace progressive ideology.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>She appears to have done it by turning out young people and people of color, neither of whom typically vote in party primaries. With more than 90 percent of precincts reporting, Pressley had 58.4 percent, or 50,917 votes, to Capuano's 41.6 percent, or 36,234 votes.</font>" <p>"<a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/09/cynthia-nixon-anti-semitism-mailer.html">Democratic Party Mailer Associating Cynthia Nixon With Anti-Semitism Backfires</a>: <font color=maroon>On the eve of Rosh Hashanah, just days before New York's gubernatorial primary on Thursday, a mailer sent by the New York Democratic Party misrepresenting Cynthia Nixon's views on Israel and accusing her of ignoring anti-Semitism has inspired widespread condemnation, forcing Governor Cuomo to assert that he did not approve it.</font>" Claims from Cuomo that he had nothing to do with it are <a href="https://nypost.com/2018/09/11/email-from-cuomo-aide-casts-doubt-on-claims-over-anti-semitic-mailer/">hard to believe</a>. Remembering a much <a href="http://gothamist.com/2013/02/01/ed_koch_forgave_mario_and_andrew_fo.php">earlier Cuomo campaign</a> against Ed Koch, the <em>Majority Report</em> crew reversed and revised their slogan to, "Vote the Homo, not Cuomo." <p>"<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/09/05/bernie-sanders-introduces-stop-bezos-act-senate/">Bernie Sanders introduces 'Stop BEZOS Act' in the Senate</a>: <font color=maroon>Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Wednesday introduced a Senate bill &mdash; the "Stop BEZOS Act" &mdash; that would require large employers such as Amazon.com and Walmart to pay the government for food stamps, public housing, Medicaid and other federal assistance received by their workers. The bill's name is a dig at Amazon chief executive Jeffrey P. Bezos and stands for 'Stop Bad Employers by Zeroing Out Subsidies Act.' It would establish a 100 percent tax on government benefits received by workers at companies with at least 500 employees, the former presidential candidate said Wednesday. "In other words, the taxpayers of this country would no longer be subsidizing the wealthiest people in this country who are paying their workers inadequate wages," Sanders said at a news conference announcing the bill. "Despite low unemployment, we end up having tens of millions of Americans working at wages that are just so low that they can't adequately take care of their families."</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2018/09/04/lepage-files-plan-to-expand-medicaid-but-asks-feds-to-reject-it/">LePage files court-ordered plan to expand Medicaid in Maine &mdash; and asks feds to reject it</a>: <font color=maroon>The LePage administration complied with a court order Tuesday and finally submitted required documents to the federal government to expand Medicaid to 70,000 Mainers &mdash; but there's a catch. Gov. Paul LePage, an expansion opponent, is asking federal officials to deny the application.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Voters approved Medicaid expansion by a 59 to 41 percent margin in November 2017, and the law passed at the ballot box required the state to file a State Plan Amendment in April. But the LePage administration has refused to implement it. The expansion, a key component of the Affordable Care Act, would provide health insurance for low-income Mainers earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty limit, or $34,638 for a family of three and $16,753 for a single person. Expansion has been approved in 34 states.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/roy-oliver-jordan-edwards-guilty-police-shooting-murder-jail-15-years-trial-a8513816.html">Roy Oliver: White police officer found guilty of murdering unarmed black teenager Jordan Edwards</a>: <font color=maroon>It is extremely rare for police officers to be tried and convicted of murder for shootings that occurred while they are on duty.</font>" I imagine this case was immeasurably helped by the fact that Oliver's partner would not confirm Oliver's defense. <p>"<a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/8xvzwp/baltimore-cops-carried-toy-guns-to-plant-on-people-they-shot-trial-reveals-vgtrn">Baltimore Cops Carried Toy Guns to Plant on People They Shot, Trial Reveals</a>: <font color=maroon>One officer involved in the city's massive corruption scandal said officers kept the replicas 'in case we accidentally hit somebody or got into a shootout, so we could plant them.'</font>" <p>Zaid Jilani, "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/08/28/2018-primaries-teachers-strikes-red-states/">Republicans Who Oppose Teacher Protests Are Losing Their Primaries, Even In Red States</a>: <font color=maroon>WEST VIRGINIA REPUBLICAN state Sen. Robert Karnes felt pretty confident about opposing the longest teachers strike in the state's history. A longtime opponent of the state's teachers unions, he told a local newspaper that he wasn't worried about any political ramifications of the strike. 'I can't say that it will have zero effect, but I don't think it'll have any significant effect because, more often than not, they probably weren't voting on the Republican side of the aisle anyways,' he said of the state's teachers. Essentially, Karnes bet against his constituents' interest in education funding. And they called him on it. Karnes lost his May primary election, winning only 3,749 votes compared to Republican Del. Bill Hamilton's 5,787 votes. Hamilton was an opponent of right-to-work laws and expressed sympathy for the teachers strike. He secured the support of labor groups like the West Virginia AFL-CIO and the West Virginia Education Association Political Action Committee; altogether, organized labor contributed around $10,000 to his campaign.</font>" And similar stories in Kentucky and Oklahoma. <p>"<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/10/palestinian-officials-washington-diplomatic-mission">'Cruel and vicious': Palestinian officials condemn Trump's closure of DC office</a>: <font color=maroon>Palestinian leaders have condemned a decision by Donald Trump to shutter their diplomatic mission to Washington as part of a 'cruel and spiteful' campaign they say represents collective punishment against Palestinians. The move follows a year of US action that includes cutting hundreds of millions of dollars in humanitarian aid to Palestinians and recognising Jerusalem, a city that is territorially contested, as Israel's capital.</font>" <p>Dean Baker, "<a href="http://cepr.net/blogs/beat-the-press/nyt-is-mistaken-on-nafta-negotiations-trump-is-threatening-ford-and-gm-with-auto-tariffs-not-canada">NYT Is Mistaken on NAFTA Negotiations: Trump is Threatening Ford and GM with Auto Tariffs, not Canada</a>: <font color=maroon>Donald Trump is very confused about trade and it seems the confusion has spread to the NYT. Its article on the trade negotiations between the United States and Canada told readers that Trump is threatening with tariffs on the cars it exports to the United States. Canada doesn't pay tariffs on cars exported to the United States. The companies that import the cars to the United States would be the ones that pay the tariffs. This would primarily be Ford and General Motors, although there may also be some foreign auto companies that bring cars in from Canada. In Trump World it seems that trade is a battle between countries, with the ones that have the largest trade surplus being the winners. In reality, many U.S. corporations have benefited hugely from the imports that have been associated with the U.S. trade deficit. They have taken advantage of lower cost labor (not really true in Canada) in other countries to reduce costs. The basic story is that trade is about class, not country. Our patterns of trade were put in place to redistribute income upward. When Trump threatens to disrupt the patterns of trade established over the last quarter century he is most immediately threatening U.S. corporations. While there may also be some negative effects for workers in other countries, the direct targets are U.S. corporations. Trump may not understand this fact, but the NYT should.</font>" <p>Unfortunately, they are still in the education business. I hope this time they actually consult real educators instead of their rich-people genius. At least this one doesn't sound as bad as the last one. So far. "<a href="http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/curriculum/2018/08/with_a_93_million_in_grants_Gates_relaunches.html?cmp=soc-edit-tw">With $92 Million in Grants, Gates Foundation Launches Newest Strategy to Improve K-12 Schools</a>. [...] <font color=maroon>"Rather than coming in with a bright, shiny new idea, we're asking districts, schools, and intermediaries to look at investments they've already made, and we're trying to make that last-mile investment that enables them to connect their work, to set the strategies or data that will enable them to be successful for students," said Robert Hughes, the foundation's director of K-12 education in a telephone press call with reporters.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/08/bernie-sanders-is-officially-getting-under-jeff-bezos-skin">Bernie Sanders Is Officially Getting Under Jeff Bezos'S Skin</a> [...] <font color=maroon>In statement after statement, the progressive senator from Vermont has decried Amazon, claiming that the $954 billion company doesn't pay enough workers a living wage &mdash; especially those who toil in its more than 100 fulfillment centers across the country. Many of the attacks have been personal: 'It is completely unacceptable that ordinary Americans should be subsidizing the wealthiest people in the world like Jeff Bezos when they pay their employees such inadequate wages,' he tweeted earlier this week. 'Count to ten,' he wrote in another tweet. 'In those ten seconds, Jeff Bezos, the owner and founder of Amazon, just made more money than the median employee of Amazon makes in an entire year.' Not content to bludgeon the company from the confines of Twitter, Sanders's office has also appealed directly to Amazon employees: 'Have you used public assistance, such as food stamps, Medicaid or subsidized housing, in order to make ends meet?' asks a form on his Web site. By now, these sorts of accusations are commonplace. But Amazon's response was not. Instead of brushing off the claims with a boilerplate statement or an internal memo, as Bezos did in response to a damning New York Times story in 2015, the company published an entire blog post on Wednesday devoted to debunking Sanders's claims.</font> [...] <font color=maroon> The company added that it had offered Sanders a tour of its fulfillment centers, and invited its workers to respond with their positive experiences. Its post was later updated to include one worker testimonial.</font>" But there are a lot more testimonials to the contrary elsewhere. <p>Bruce Dixon explains "<a href="https://blackagendareport.com/why-blue-wave-missed-missouris-1st-cd">Why the Blue Wave Missed Missouri's 1st CD</a> [...] <font color=maroon>The first is the black church, which is ridden with local, and since the advent of Bush's and Obama's faith based initiative, federal patronage. Black churches are often tied hand and foot to local politicians for everything from real estate deals to charter school contracts, and their leaders are often fixtures in local Democratic party affairs, even public officials themselves. The second is the nonprofit industrial complex, a literal army of advocacy groups sometimes doing housing and homeless activism, sometimes feeding the hungry, sometimes doing worker centers, womens health, tenants rights, LBGTQ activism, environmental stuff. There's another section of the nonprofit industrial complex which can't even be called nonpartisan with a straight face, offshoots of the NAACP and the Movement 4 Black Lives. These forces are tied to the political preferences of their corporate philanthropic funders. Executive directors of nonprofit organizations who don't find a way to support the right Democrats in primary season and all Democrats in general election put their careers, the livelihoods of all their employees, and the outfit's good works in jeopardy. And there are the unions &mdash; heavily public sector and disproportionately people of color, again all tied to the most right wing established Democrats on the local, state and federal level.</font>" <p>RIP: "<a href="http://gothamist.com/2018/08/31/village_voice_is_officially_dead.php"><em><b>The Village Voice</b></em> Is Officially Dead</a>: <font color=maroon>Three years after buying The Village Voice, and a year after the paper shut down its print edition, owner Peter Barbey told the remaining staff today that the publication will no longer be posting any new stories.</font>" <p>Sam Seder left some great pre-recorded interviews for listeners during <em>The Majority Report</em>'s vacation week. <br>* <a href="https://youtu.be/oVoJ6zMMr9E">America's Forgotten Black Pioneers & the Struggle for Equality - MR Live - 8/27/18</a><br>* <a href="https://youtu.be/J6Ku-mR8lPw">This Radical Land: A Natural History of American Dissent w/ Daegan Miller - MR Live - 8/28/18</a><br>* <a href="https://youtu.be/6yKwbQ4pkSM">Globalists: The End Of Empire & the Birth of Neoliberalism w/ Quinn Slobodian - MR Live - 8/29/18</a> <p>Katie Halper interviewed <a href="https://soundcloud.com/katie-halper/asad-haider-on-the-betrayal-of-identity-politics">Asad Haider on the betrayal of Identity Politics</a>. <p>Briahna Gray, "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/08/26/beware-the-race-reductionist/">Beware The Race Reductionist</a> [...] <font color=maroon>If you're #online, like I am, you're probably already familiar with the main argument. It goes something like this: If a policy doesn't resolve racism 'first,' it's at worst, racist and at best, not worth pursuing.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Notice that this trick is aimed at policies which would threaten significant corporate or entrenched interests: the insurance industry, the banking industry, the energy sector, lenders. As the University of California, Berkeley, law professor and leading scholar on race Ian Haney-López observed as we discussed the motives behind this framing, mainstream Democrats, like Republicans, 'are funded by large donors. Of course they're concerned about the interests of the top 1 percent.' It's almost as if the real agenda here isn't ending racism, but deterring well-meaning liberals from policies that would upset the Democratic Party's financial base.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>So will 'Medicare for All' cure racism? No. Will it completely eliminate point-of-care discrimination? It won't. But neither will doubling down on the status quo. Those who admonish these broad economic policies on the grounds that they won't end bigotry rarely, if ever, propose alternatives that will; nor do they suggest reforms to make flawed universal programs more perfect. This fact, more than anything, exposes the bad faith motives of at least some race reductionists. </font> <p>Howie Klein on "<a href="http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2018/08/what-happens-after-wave-what-can.html">What Happens AFTER The Wave? What Can Democrats Accomplish?</a> [...] <font color=maroon>The DCCC is making the same mistake they made-- so disastrously-- in 2010 by letting the Republicans define Democratic candidates while they sit on their asses doing nothing but figuring out how of a rake-off from campaign donations their pals can get. Ryan's SuperPAC "is already unloading blistering attack ads on Democratic nominees in 15 key districts," while the DCCC is still spending their energy and resources against progressives and ignoring Republicans.</font>" <p><a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/08/anand-giridharadas-on-winners-take-all.html">Why Philanthropy Is Bad for Democracy</a>: <font color=maroon>Anand Giridharadas, author of <em>Winners Take All</em>, on how well-meaning liberals paved the way for Trump</font> [...] <font color=maroon>I would love to tell you I figured it out within two minutes, but these things are seductive. It was a drip-drip-drip-drip of moments where you thought, 'Wait a second, why are we sitting in the Koch building? Why is this event funded by Monsanto, and by Pepsi, which seems to be changing the world by fattening kids? Why is Goldman Sachs a sponsor of our annual summer retreat?' The reality of the world outside kept getting worse and worse, and the people in the fellowship, and the sponsors, seemed to be the very people sucking most of the juice of progress. What I started to realize was that giving had become the wingman of taking. Generosity had become the wingman of injustice. 'Changing the world' had become the wingman of rigging the system.</font>" <p>Ryann Liebenthal in <em>Mother Jones</em>, "<a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/08/debt-student-loan-forgiveness-betsy-devos-education-department-fedloan/">The Incredible, Rage-Inducing Inside Story of America's Student Debt Machine</a>: <font color=maroon>Why is the nation's flagship loan forgiveness program failing the people it's supposed to help?</font>" <p>Pierce, "<a href="https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a22874753/it-turns-out-mike-pence-has-been-working-on-being-unlikable-for-decades/">It Turns Out Mike Pence Has Been Working on Being Unlikable for Decades</a>: <font color=maroon>The late great Indiana political blogger Doghouse Riley used to call Mike Pence "the Choirboy," and hipped us all to the fact that this was a walking haircut stuffed with piety, ignorance, and not a whole lot else. Comes now CNN with a profile, and we learn from the people with whom he went to college that Pence has been practicing to be an unlikable and thoroughgoing prig for decades now.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>This is the guy who is about four Diet Cokes, one clogged coronary artery, and/or a massive rage-tweet-induced aneurysm away from the presidency of the United States. And, again, it did not take Donald Trump to make Mike Pence a twisted, god-bothering, judgmental and successful political reptile. All that took was the Republican Party.</font>" <p>David Dayen says <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/151159/tim-geithner-resistance-inside-obama-administration">Tim Geithner was the "resistance" inside the Obama administration</a>: "<font color=maroon>Last week, in an anonymous New York Times op-ed, a senior Trump official attempted to reassure the public that members of the administration were actively impeding their boss's wishes. One member of the public wasn't soothed: Trump's predecessor. 'The claim that everything will turn out okay because there are people inside the White House who secretly aren't following the president's orders, that is not a check,' Barack Obama said in a speech. 'That's not how our democracy's supposed to work. These people aren't elected. They're not accountable.' It was interesting timing for Obama to condemn executive branch defiance. This week marks the tenth anniversary of the fall of Lehman Brothers, seen as the emblematic event of the financial crisis. And early in Obama's first term, as he struggled to prevent further collapse, he faced similar insubordination from a key official: Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. According to credible accounts, Geithner slow-walked a direct presidential order to prepare the breakup of Citigroup, instead undertaking other measures to nurse the insolvent bank back to health. This resistance to accountability for those who perpetrated the crisis, consistent with Geithner's demonstrated worldview, had catastrophic effects &mdash; including the Trump presidency itself.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Today, some may welcome the internal dissension in the Trump administration. But Geithner's actions to protect banks from the president he served, and the anger it bred at a 'rigged' system, diminished the public's faith in government intervention and helped install Trump in the White House. Ten years later, Geithner's one regret, as he put it in the Times, was that regulators don't have as much power now as he had then to bail out banks. But he wasn't given that power unilaterally; he took it, and America is still dealing with the consequences.</font>" <p>Ryan Cooper in <em>The Week</em>, "<a href="http://theweek.com/articles/789956/biggest-policy-mistake-last-decade">The biggest policy mistake of the last decade</a>: <font color=maroon>In the great economic battle of the past decade, the winner is the tried and true &mdash; in a rout. After the 2008 financial crisis, old-fashioned Keynesians offered a simple fix: Stimulate the economy. With idle capacity and unemployed workers, nations could restore economic production at essentially zero real cost. It helped the U.S. in the Great Depression and it could help the U.S. in the Great Recession too. But during and immediately after the crisis, neoliberal and conservative forces attacked the Keynesian school of thought from multiple directions. Stimulus couldn't work because of some weird debt trigger condition, or because it would cause hyperinflation, or because unemployment was "structural," or because of a "skills gap," or because of adverse demographic trends. Well going on 10 years later, the evidence is in: The anti-Keynesian forces have been proved conclusively mistaken on every single argument. Their refusal to pick up what amounted to a multiple-trillion-dollar bill sitting on the sidewalk is the greatest mistake of economic policy analysis since 1929 at least. Let's take the culprits in turn.</font>" <p>A book review from Jennifer Szalai, "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/08/books/review-crashed-financial-crisis-adam-tooze.html"><em>Crashed</em> Connects the Dots From 2008 Crisis to Trump, Brexit and More</a> [...] <font color=maroon></font> [...] <font color=maroon>On the apparent Democratic distaste for conflict, Tooze is quietly scathing. 'Rather than seeking to mobilize the indignation simmering in American society,' the Obama administration sought to tamp it down, offering 'one technocratic fix after another.' Putting it another way, Democratic centrism won the (financial) war but lost the (political) peace. To judge from Trump's ascendancy, along with the historical evidence so scrupulously marshaled in 'Crash,' Tooze is right.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>One of the great virtues of this bravura work of economic history is how much attention it devotes to issues of power. 'Who was being hurt?' Tooze writes of the 2008 crisis. 'Who was included in the circle of those who needed to be protected? And who was not?' He reckons that in their bid to paper over such fundamental political questions with technical solutions, neoliberal centrists inadvertently answered them. Incremental tweaking did little to address the grief and suffering caused by the crisis, making political power more visible. By laying bare who would be sacrificed when the tide went out, they left a ragged hole for the likes of Trump and Bannon to walk through.</font>" <p><a href="https://harpers.org/archive/2018/09/harpers-index-september-2018/"><em>Harper's Index</em></a>: <br> &bullet; Average number of months by which Republican-appointed judges sentence blacks to longer jail terms than whites : 7.8 <br>By which Democratic-appointed judges do : 4.8 <br> &bullet; Estimated percentage of US adults exonerated of crimes who are found to have falsely confessed : 10 <br>Of juveniles : 38 <br> &bullet; Percentage of heterosexual men without a high school diploma who changed their last name when they were last married : 10 <br>Of heterosexual men with a college degree who did : 2 <p>Nick Hanauer is sounding the alarm to his fellow zillioniaires, "<a href="https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/06/the-pitchforks-are-coming-for-us-plutocrats-108014">The Pitchforks Are Coming &mdash; For Us Plutocrats</a> [...] <font color=maroon>If we don't do something to fix the glaring inequities in this economy, the pitchforks are going to come for us. No society can sustain this kind of rising inequality. In fact, there is no example in human history where wealth accumulated like this and the pitchforks didn't eventually come out. You show me a highly unequal society, and I will show you a police state. Or an uprising. There are no counterexamples. None. It's not if, it's when.</font>" Also, when I scrolled past the end, I found another warning from Joseph Stiglitz on <a href="http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/06/the-myth-of-americas-golden-age-108013.html?ml=m_ms">The Myth of America's Golden Age</a>. He says the same thing, only shorter. <p>Matt Stoller <a href="https://twitter.com/matthewstoller/status/1038135430271651842">tweeted</a>: <font color=maroon>Tim Geithner, Ben Bernanke, and Hank Paulson argue in the New York Times that our main political problem is insufficient authority to bail out banks. I mean, just, speechless.</font> And then he "<a href="https://twitter.com/matthewstoller/status/1038796952773820417">tweeted</a>, "<font color=maroon>1. Ok, time to address this piece by Hank Paulson, Tim Geithner, and Ben Bernanke on the need for more bailout authority to address financial crises. It is a surprisingly interesting but hidden political argument.</font>" Go read the thread. <p>RIP: <a href="https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/bill-daily-dead-dies-major-healey-i-dream-of-jeannie-1202933026/"><b>Bill Daily</b>, Major Healey in <em>I Dream of Jeannie</em>, Dies at 91</a>: <font color=maroon>Bill Daily, the affable TV actor who starred as Major Roger Healey in <em>I Dream of Jeannie</em> as well as on <em>The Bob Newhart Show</em>, died Sept. 4 in Santa Fe, N.M., his son J. Patrick Daily confirmed. He was 91.</font>" <p>RIP: "<a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2018/09/06/entertainment/burt-reynolds-has-died/index.html"><b>Burt Reynolds</b>, <em>Smokey and the Bandit</em> star, dead at 82</a>." I actually remember him best for being hilarious on late-night talk shows. He was fun. <p>Sirota at the <em>Guardian</em>, "<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/sep/10/trump-neoliberal-democratic-party-america">Yes, let's wipe out Trump. But take neoliberal Democrats with him, too</a>: <font color=maroon></font> [...] <font color=maroon>Recounting this sordid record is not to dispute Democrats' occasional successes. Some blue locales continue to periodically pass progressive initiatives, most recently on climate change, net neutrality and minimum wages. These are undoubtedly important, but they have for the most part been incremental at a time when the economic and ecological crises we face demand far more radical action. The current iteration of the Democratic party has proven time and again that it is not merely uninterested in that kind of radicalism, but actively opposed to it. Party powerbrokers and multimillion-dollar MSNBC pundits would prefer an election focused exclusively on the palace dramas surrounding Trump's boorish outbursts and outrageous personal behavior. They don't want an election focused on the bipartisan neoliberalism that has wrought the desperation and mayhem unfolding outside the palace walls.</font>" <p>If you ever wonder what's wrong with Bob Woodward's journalism, you normally can't check his sources to find out what really happened. But one time, he didn't have that protection, because he wrote a <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2013/03/bob_woodward_and_gene_sperling_what_woodward_s_john_belushi_book_can_tell.html">regrettable</a> book where sources weren't speaking confidentially and no state secrets were involved, and someone checked it out. Tanner Colby on the troubling things he learned when he re-reported Woodward's book about John Belushi. <p>This is a few years old, but I get tired of hearing right-wingers (especially the "centrists") pretending it was all some instant reaction from the religious right against <em>Roe v. Wade</em>. But that didn't happen. There was no reaction from the religious right at the time because they didn't care about that. It was manufactured. "<a href="https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/05/religious-right-real-origins-107133">The Real Origins of the Religious Right</a>" <p>Eventually, if I keep looking, everything turns up on YouTube. <a href="https://youtu.be/hKRxZSOqAYw"><em>Meeting of Minds</em></a>, first episode, in which Steve Allen talks to dinner guests Teddy Roosevelt, Cleopatra, Thomas Paine, and Saint Thomas Aquinas. <p><a href="https://youtu.be/u97_inloBmY">Paul McCartney Breaks Down His Most Iconic Songs</a>Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-10623966089188230522018-08-27T23:45:00.003+01:002018-08-30T15:20:38.832+01:00Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-elscV9HpH00/W4R-4IKP6cI/AAAAAAAAB5g/2hLoeD14YZUzmcACZz8O3KiB6eEWVCmhgCLcBGAs/s1600/WeNeedARevolution.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-elscV9HpH00/W4R-4IKP6cI/AAAAAAAAB5g/2hLoeD14YZUzmcACZz8O3KiB6eEWVCmhgCLcBGAs/s320/WeNeedARevolution.jpg" width="320" height="268" data-original-width="548" data-original-height="459" /></a></div> <p>Elizabeth Warren's press release for her <a href="https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-introduces-accountable-capitalism-act">Accountable Capitalism Act</a> is nicely put together and provides some good background: <blockquote>"<font color=maroon>For most of our country's history, American corporations balanced their responsibilities to all of their stakeholders - employees, shareholders, communities - in corporate decisions. It worked: profits went up, productivity went up, wages went up, and America built a thriving middle class. <p>"But in the 1980s a new idea quickly took hold: American corporations should focus only on maximizing returns to their shareholders. That had a seismic impact on the American economy. In the early 1980s, America's biggest companies dedicated less than half of their profits to shareholders and reinvested the rest in the company. But over the last decade, big American companies have dedicated 93% of earnings to shareholders - redirecting trillions of dollars that could have gone to workers or long-term investments. The result is that booming corporate profits and rising worker productivity have not led to rising wages. <p>"Additionally, because the wealthiest top 10% of American households own 84% of all American-held shares - while more than 50% of American households own no stock at all - the dedication to "maximizing shareholder value" means that the multi-trillion dollar American corporate system is focused explicitly on making the richest Americans even richer.</font>"</blockquote> <p>Warren's <a href="https://www.warren.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2018.08.21%20Speech%20on%20Corruption.pdf">prepared remarks to the National Press Club</a> about her anti-corruption bill are also pretty interesting. And Howie Klein bulllet-pointing it in "<a href="https://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2018/08/can-corruption-in-government-be_22.html">Can Corruption In Government Be Legislated Out Of Existence By... Corrupt Politicians?</a>." <p><center><font color=magenta>* * * * *</font></center><p> <p>"<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/08/24/force-billionaires-welfare-sanders-tax-would-make-corporations-fund-100-public/">To Force Billionaires Off Welfare, Sanders Tax Would Make Corporations Fund 100% of Public Assistance Their Low-Paid Workers Receive</a>: <font color=maroon>I don't believe that ordinary Americans should be subsidizing the wealthiest person in the world because you pay your employees inadequate wages.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://bgr.com/2018/08/21/verizon-unlimited-throttling-fire-department-emails-wtf/">Verizon refused to un-throttle a California fire department's 'unlimited' plan during wildfires</a>: <font color=maroon>Although calling out wireless carriers is a frequent pasttime here at BGR, sometimes a story comes along that sounds so cartoonishly villanous that you assume something in the story is wrong. But in this case, there are emails, and what they reveal is that Verizon's big talk about supporting emergency services apparently doesn't work in the real world. Ars Technica's Jon Brodkin found a series of emails between the Santa Clara County Fire Department and Verizon discussing the fire department's supposedly unlimited plan, how it was being throttled while on scene trying to battle a wildfire, and what could be done about it.</font>" This is shameful; if they're going to say a plan is "unlimited", it should damned well be unlimited, fire department or not. Their claim of support for emergency services sounds like pure fabrication. <p>"<a href="http://mediaroots.org/us-sanctions-shut-down-the-empire-files-with-abby-martin/"><em>Empire Files</em> forced to shut down by sanctions against Venezuela</a>: <font color=maroon>As a result of financial attacks by the US government on the primary source of TeleSUR's funding, production was halted before the completion of <em>Empire Files</em> Season Two.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://anotherangryvoice.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-facebook-blackout-glitch-censored.html">The Facebook blackout 'glitch' censored independent media, but left the mainstream media untouched</a>: <font color=maroon>Facebook has initiated a massive purge of independent media content. This blackout includes barring multiple independent media sites from posting links to their own site on their Facebook page, deleting independent media posts without warning or reason, marking independent media posts as spam so ordinary members of the public can't share them, and deleting ordinary people's posts without reason. This issue has impacted multiple left-leaning independent media sites like Another Angry Voice, Evolve Politics, Vox Political, People's Campaign for Corbyn, EU Citizens for an Independent Scotland, and many others. With pages left unable to post links to their own articles. Facebook have tried to dismiss the independent media blackout as a "glitch" but interestingly the Facebook pages of mainstream media outlets were unaffected by the "glitch". Mainstream media outlets that have been able to continue posting articles throughout the blackout include the Daily Mail, The S*n, Evening Standard, The Times and Sunday Times, The Guardian, The Spectator, Daily Mirror, Daily Express, Sky News, BBC News, and BBC Politics. Additionally the hard-right Guido Fawkes blog was also allowed to continue posting links to their vile echo chamber of hate throughout the Facebook blackout. The fact that a select few pages were allowed to continue posting throughout the Facebook blackout suggests that there's some kind of Facebook 'whitelist' protecting them from whatever measures they've been taking against independent media sources. So a range of left-wing, pro-independence, anti-Tory, pro-Corbyn, anti-fracking independent media pages were barred from sharing links, while mainstream media outlets and hard-right blogs were completely unaffected.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/reality-winner-sentenced-pleaded-guilty-to-leaking-secret-u-s-report-today-2018-08-23/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab7e&linkId=55922192">Reality Winner, who pleaded guilty to leaking secret U.S. report, gets 63-month sentence</a>: <font color=maroon>AUGUSTA, Ga. -- A former government contractor who pleaded guilty to mailing a classified U.S. report to a news organization was sentenced to more than five years Thursday as part of a deal with prosecutors, who called it the longest sentence ever imposed for a federal crime involving leaks to the media. Reality Winner, 26, pleaded guilty in June to a single count of transmitting national security information. The former Air Force translator worked as a contractor at a National Security Agency's office in Augusta, Georgia, when she printed a classified report and left the building with it tucked into her pantyhose. Winner told the FBI she mailed the document to an online news outlet.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2018/08/wells-fargo-anti-medical-marijuana-bank.html">Wells Fargo-- The Anti-Medical Marijuana Bank-- Strikes Again</a> [...] <font color=maroon>'They told me my account was being flagged because of my political platform,' Fried said during a news conference at the Capitol. She lists greater access to medical marijuana as one of the main issues of her campaign.</font>" <p><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/08/23/incredible-new-poll-shows-70-americans-support-medicare-all-includes-84-democrats/">'Incredible': New Poll That Shows 70% of Americans Support Medicare for All Includes 84% of Democrats and 52% of Republicans</a>: <font color=maroon>Don't tell anyone but, uh, we're gonna win.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>With such levels of popularity, as an accompanying article exploring some of the tensions within the party makes clear, Democratic leaders are being told they ignore the push for Medicare for All at their own peril.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>While the Reuters article focused mainly on the question of whether progressive leaders like Sanders and congressional candidates like New York's Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Nebraska's Kara Eastman can convince voters to support progressive proposals, the news agency's polling showed that centrist Democrats, who claim they are trying to appeal to so-called "moderates," are actually alienating the vast majority of potential voters on key issues.</font>" This means that the percentage of Republican voters who support M4A is higher than the percentage of Democrats in Congress who do. <p>"<a href="https://theappeal.org/california-could-soon-end-money-bail-but-at-what-cost/">California Could Soon End Money Bail, But At What Cost?</a>: <font color=maroon>The passage of Senate Bill 10 would decimate the bail industry, but many advocates say it falls short of true reform.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>In earlier drafts of the bill, all defendants would have appeared before a judge with a presumption of release. To detain someone, prosecutors would have had to make a case with convincing evidence that there was no way to release the person while ensuring his or her next court appearance and protecting public safety. This month, however, a new draft of the legislation began making the rounds that vastly altered its vision and scope. While abolishing cash bail and mandating the release of most people arrested for nonviolent misdemeanors within 12 hours of being booked, the new draft gives county judges wide-ranging discretion over which defendants deemed 'medium risk' could be detained pretrial.</font>" <p>RIP: <a href="https://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/spotlights/Remembering-Lynn-Stout.cfm"><b>Lynn Stout</b></a>, economics professor best known for busting <a href="https://youtu.be/k1jdJFrG6NY">the shareholder value myth</a>. Though she died last April at 60 after a battle with cancer, I only just learned about it, but I really want people to talk about this important aspect of her work. Her book, <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Shareholder-Value-Myth-Shareholders-Corporations/dp/1605098132/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1534776670&sr=8-1&keywords=the+shareholder+value+myth"><em>The Shareholder Value Myth: How Putting Shareholders First Harms Investors, Corporations, and the Public</em></a> came out years ago but deserves far more penetration into people's consciousness. <br>* Back when her book was released, Jay Ackroyd interviewed Lynn Stout on <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/virtuallyspeaking/2013/08/09/lynn-stout-the-shareholder-value-myth-1"><em>Virtually Speaking</em></a>. <p>Yves was also on that subject at the time, with discussion and an interview with <a href="https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2014/01/myth-maximizing-shareholder-value.html">Bill Lazonick</a> <p>Here's Ryan Grim interviewing Stephanie Kelton last spring on <a href="https://youtu.be/4FYS3z45Zqc">why we can't have nice things - but could if Congress wanted to</a>. <p>And Gaius reminded me recently of this four-year-old interview Sam Seder did with Philip Mirowski, author of <em> Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste: How Neoliberalism Survived the Financial Meltdown.</em>, on <a href="https://youtu.be/iRs1ZpKoLSE?t=416">the history and continued evil of neoliberalism</a>. <p>"<a href="https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/meet-the-economist-behind-the-one-percents-stealth-takeover-of-america">Meet the Economist Behind the One Percent's Stealth Takeover of America</a>: <font color=maroon>Nobel laureate James Buchanan is the intellectual linchpin of the Koch-funded attack on democratic institutions, argues Duke historian Nancy MacLean.</font>" <p>George Monbiot in the <em>Guardian</em>, "<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jul/19/despot-disguise-democracy-james-mcgill-buchanan-totalitarian-capitalism">A despot in disguise: one man's mission to rip up democracy</a>: <font color=maroon>James McGill Buchanan's vision of totalitarian capitalism has infected public policy in the US. Now it's being exported.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>He explained how attempts to desegregate schooling in the American south could be frustrated by setting up a network of state-sponsored private schools. It was he who first proposed privatising universities, and imposing full tuition fees on students: his original purpose was to crush student activism. He urged privatisation of social security and many other functions of the state. He sought to break the links between people and government, and demolish trust in public institutions. He aimed, in short, to save capitalism from democracy.</font>" <p>Even Forbes admits it: "<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/petergeorgescu/2018/08/22/americas-real-economy-it-isnt-booming/amp/?__twitter_impression=true">America's Real Economy: It Isn't Booming</a>: <font color=maroon>Ostensibly, for the past ten years, our economy has been recovering from the 2008 collapse. During the past few years, our comeback seems to have gained momentum. All the official indicators say we're back in boom times, with a bull market, low unemployment and steady job growth. But there is an alternative set of data that depicts a different America, where the overlooked majority struggles from month to month.</font>" The story gets the data right (Thanks to <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/united-states-national-security-problem-not-think/" title="The United States Has a National-Security Problem - and It's Not What You Think"><em>The Nation</em></a> and <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/176447/tomgram%3A_rajan_menon%2C_the_wages_of_poverty_in_america/"><em>TomDispatch</em></a>), but then, alas, descends into prescriptions that come straight from the centrist playbook. "<font color=maroon>What's genuinely astonishing to me is that the private sector doesn't see the immense danger in all this &mdash; not simply the prospect of a collapse from enormous household debt loads, but the prospect of civil unrest after another huge correction like the one in 2008. Our current course is unsustainable. And for all the proposals for changes in public policy to ameliorate income inequality, only the private sector can get the nation on a better track by raising wages, increasing benefits and investing in new ventures and expanded markets.</font>" While it's true that raising wages is certainly a necessity, the private sector is not going to do any of this unless public policy forces them to. The constant refrain that we need more and more education &mdash; now supplied by the private sector &mdash; is ludicrous since we already have an educated populace that is out of work. The only thing the private sector can actually do at this point is reverse course on pressuring government to make their lives so easy, and start telling government to restore the regulations and enforcement that used to make them pay better wages, treat their workers better, and quit moving production abroad. Government has to go back to making business work, and it has to start spending real money again in the real economy and taxing the hell out of the rich. <p>Just when I was about to go to bed I see this <a href="https://twitter.com/SamSeder/status/1033149173821067265">tweet</a> from Sam retweeting David Dayen <a href="https://twitter.com/ddayen/status/1033094814256914432">retweeting</a> a <a href="https://twitter.com/willsommer/status/1033092285779652608">Will Sommer tweet</a> posting a screen capture of a tweet from Lionel ("One of the leading promoters of the QAnon conspiracy theory") bragging about the honor of going to the White House to meet Trump. Lionel, as David points out, is "literally the guy who replaced @SamSeder on Air America." But in the ensuing thread I found a 2010 video I'd never seen, "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATC5vyBBd1E">Sam Seder on TYT Network (Why Air America Fell, Obama & Much More!)</a>," posted because it includes Sam talking about the end of Air America Radio not long after it's official demise, but before that an amazingly prescient interview with Chris Hayes about how the failure of Obama and the Democratic Party to seize the populist moment could easily lead to right-wing "populism" - and the situation we have now. <p>RIP: "<a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/08/25/537705767/sen-john-mccain-former-presidential-nominee-and-prisoner-of-war-dies-at-81">Sen. <b>John McCain</b>, Former Presidential Nominee And Prisoner Of War, Dies At 81</a>." I think I'm with <a href="https://consortiumnews.com/2018/08/27/the-other-side-of-john-mccain/">Max Blumenthal on this</a>. <p>Pink Floyd live, "<a href="https://youtu.be/1NXBLxZcO2Q">Money</a>"Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-8598072879842448352018-08-20T03:18:00.003+01:002018-08-20T15:20:49.624+01:00I used to feel so uninspired<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NuQNnHaN8JI/W3ok0xyYhaI/AAAAAAAAB5Q/d8pL4a-FqYA3N-dZIuFK6SdpB8mUpJDnACLcBGAs/s1600/SunriseCuba.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NuQNnHaN8JI/W3ok0xyYhaI/AAAAAAAAB5Q/d8pL4a-FqYA3N-dZIuFK6SdpB8mUpJDnACLcBGAs/s320/SunriseCuba.jpg" width="214" height="320" data-original-width="500" data-original-height="748" /></a></div> <p>RIP: "<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/aug/16/aretha-franklin-queen-of-soul-dies"><b>Aretha Franklin</b>, 'the queen of soul', dies aged 76</a>: <font color=maroon>Regarded as one of the greatest singers of all time, Aretha Franklin has died of advanced pancreatic cancer</font>" Everybody has the same headline, because what else could it be? The <em>Guardian</em> used a video of "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHsnZT7Z2yQ">(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman</a>" in it's obit, but it's <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/aug/16/aretha-franklin-a-voice-that-gave-america-its-heart-and-soul">longer tribute</a> gives you more. Okay, I teared up, but still, she had a great run - she got to be <em>Aretha</em>. <br>* "<a href="https://qz.com/quartzy/1356841/when-aretha-franklin-offered-to-post-bail-for-angela-davis/">When Aretha Franklin Offered To Post Bail For Angela Davis</a>: <font color=maroon>Aretha Franklin, who died today at the age of 76 in her home in Detroit, was known for her unbelievable musical talent and majestic career, but the Queen of Soul was also a longtime warrior in the fight for social justice. A close friend of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who visited her in her final days, Franklin was a vocal supporter of civil rights movements, often performing at benefits and encouraging voter registration. But her private and church-based work &mdash; including stepping in to financially support Martin Luther King Jr.'s movement, the families of incarcerated people, and black activist ministers &mdash; was largely under the radar, Jackson told the Detroit Free Press recently.</font>" <p>RIP: <b>Mark Perkel</b>. "On August first, one of the coolest people you've probably never heard of died. Before there was a Netroots Nation or bloggers commonly called bloggers way back in 2000, Mark Perkel founded the liberal voices on the web &mdash; people like Bartcop, Brad Friedman and me &mdash; and offered us free hosting and eternal digital protection." -- <a href="https://youtu.be/RhB24-bhAYo?t=6861">Tammy</a>, delivering a quick obituary on phone call to <em>The Majority Report</em>. (That's a direct section link.) <p>If you listen to the earlier parts of that Sam Seder video, you'll hear that some YouTube algorithm knocked him off his live feed Friday. It's funny how these social media censors have such a problem with comedy. But they have trouble with other things, too, and it's curious that Facebook has a problem with <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/venezuelanalysiscom/venezuelanalysis-official-statement-on-facebooks-removal-of-our-page/10157056651193488/">Venezuelanalysis</a>: "<font color=maroon>Venezuelanalysis is the only independent English language website covering news and analysis on Venezuela from a progressive perspective, & which platforms leftist grassroots voices from within Venezuela. It is run by committed journalists, authors and academics, & praised by renowned journalists and intellectuals such as Noam Chomsky, John Pilger, Marta Harnecker, Oliver Stone, and so on. We cannot help but feel that the removal of our page is related to an attempt to stifle the alternative and progressive perspectives that we feature on Venezuela.</font>" (Here's another story at <a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/acclaimed-venezuelan-news-site-latest-victim-in-facebook-censorship-spree/5650353" title="Acclaimed Venezuelan News Site Latest Victim in Facebook Censorship Spree"><em>Global Research</em></a>.) Still no explanation from FB. And <a href="https://www.antiwar.com/blog/2018/08/07/behind-the-scenes-at-the-twitter-purge-with-scott-horton-peter-van-buren-and-daniel-mcadams/">AntiWar.com</a> is reporting on suspensions and bannings, too. It seems strange that all this cross-platform de-platforming has happened at once. <p>Matt Taibbi, "<a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/facebook-censorship-alex-jones-710497/">Censorship Does Not End Well</a>: <font color=maroon>How America learned to stop worrying and put Mark Zuckerberg in charge of everything</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Two weeks ago, we learned about a new campaign against 'inauthentic' content, conducted by Facebook in consultation with Congress and the secretive think tank Atlantic Council &mdash; whose board includes an array of ex-CIA and Homeland Security officials &mdash; in the name of cracking down on alleged Russian disinformation efforts.­ As part of the bizarre alliance of Internet news distributors and quasi-government censors, the social network zapped 32 accounts and pages, including an ad for a real 'No Unite the Right 2' anti-racist counter-rally in D.C. this past weekend.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Last week, we saw another flurry of censorship news. Facebook apparently suspended VenezuelaAnalysis.com, a site critical of U.S. policy toward Venezuela. (It was reinstated Thursday.) Twitter suspended a pair of libertarians, including @DanielLMcAdams of the Ron Paul Institute and @ScottHortonShow of Antiwar.com, for using the word 'bitch' (directed toward a man) in a silly political argument. They, too, were later re-instated.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>And yet: I didn't celebrate when Jones was banned. Collectively, all these stories represent a revolutionary moment in media. Jones is an incidental player in a much larger narrative. Both the Jones situation and the Facebook-Atlantic Council deletions seem an effort to fulfill a request made last year by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Last October, Facebook, Google and Twitter were asked by Hawaii Senator Mazie Hizono to draw up a 'mission statement' to 'prevent the foment of discord.'</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Now that we've opened the door for ordinary users, politicians, ex-security-state creeps, foreign governments and companies like Raytheon to influence the removal of content, the future is obvious: an endless merry-go-round of political tattling, in which each tribe will push for bans of political enemies.</font>" <p>Leaving aside the usual creebing about college liberals, which is wrong and beside the point, Peter Van Buren's argument in <em>The American Conservative</em> is fairly strong, in "<a href="https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/i-was-banned-for-life-from-twitter/">I Was Banned for Life From Twitter</a>: <font color=maroon>I became persona non grata after a heated exchange over the media's complicity with the government. The mob won.</font>" <p><em>The Onion</em> with <a href="https://youtu.be/fJwHZVl5Buk">an unusual weather forecast</a>. <p>Dean Baker, "<a href="http://cepr.net/blogs/beat-the-press/jake-tapper-dishonest-fact-check-on-bernie-sanders-and-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-on-medicare-for-all">Jake Tapper' Dishonest Fact Check On Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Medicare for All</a>: <font color=maroon>I already did a tweet on this, but thought it was worth posting here. Jake Tapper did a completely dishonest fact check on Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez over their claim that a study by a right-wing think tank showed that Medicare for all would save the country $2 trillion over a decade (roughly 0.8 percent of GDP). Tapper misrepresented their comments to say that they claimed the study would save the government $2 trillion. He then points out that the study showed Medicare for all would hugely increase the cost of healthcare to the government. Of course, the cost to the government will increase if it takes responsibility for the bulk of healthcare payments in the country. No one is contesting this point. The question is what happens to the cost of healthcare to the country as a whole. Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez were accurately citing one of the scenarios in the study on this point. Tapper owes it to Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez, and more importantly to his audience, to correct himself on this one. It's a straightforward point and he really should be able to get it right.</font>" More specifically, the study, in its main body, discussed the costs under Sanders' actual, existing Medicare for All bill. The other scenario the study mentions occurs only in an appendix and is <a href="https://jacobinmag.com/2018/08/bernie-sanders-mercatus-study-medicare-for-all">sheer conjecture</a> about what it might otherwise contain. <p>Michelle Goldberg on "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/17/opinion/columnists/stacey-abrams-georgia-governor-debt.html">The Debt-Shaming of Stacey Abrams</a>: <font color=maroon>Our pernicious double standard on politicians who owe money.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>It's going to be a tight race: Abrams and Kemp are currently tied in the polls. But Republicans think they can damage Abrams by going after her on the issue of her personal debt, which totals more than $200,000. Last week, an ad from the Republican Governors Association hit her for lending money to her own campaign while owing $54,000 to the Internal Revenue Service, describing her as 'self-serving' and 'fiscally irresponsible.' Kemp himself made a baseless suggestion that Abrams might have violated the law: 'Instead of paying more than $50,000 in back taxes, she gave $50,000 to her campaign. If that's not criminal, it should be.' This line of attack throws a pernicious political dynamic into high relief. The financial problems of poor and middle-class people are treated as moral failings, while rich people's debt is either ignored or spun as a sign of intrepid entrepreneurialism.</font>" <p>With the Accountable Capitalism Act, says Charlie Pierce, "<a href="https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a22739334/elizabeth-warren-corporations-wall-street-journal-op-ed/">Elizabeth Warren Put a Stake in the Ground. We Should Pay Close Attention</a>. <font color=maroon>If corporations want to be treated like people then they should be punished like them, too.</font>" The idea is to have a federal charter system for big corporations and make them live up to being good citizens that contribute to the public good. <p>"<a href="https://www.juancole.com/2018/08/threatened-authorities-separation.html">Author Reza Aslan threatened by Israeli Border Authorities with Family Separation</a>: <font color=maroon>BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) &mdash; Shin Bet, Israel's internal security agency, detained Iranian-American writer, Reza Aslan, as he was entering Israel through Jordan, with his family. Reza Aslan, 46, took to his Twitter account, where he said that the Shin Bet used police state tactics against him and his family. Aslan arrived in Israel with his wife, children, and in-laws after a visit to Jordan. Upon his arrival, he was separated from his family at the border and detained by the Shin Bet, which repeatedly threatened him . He wrote in his Twitter post that the Shin Bet interrogator threatened him by repeatedly saying 'we can make it so you don't see your kids for a long time.' Aslan mentioned that 'the police state part began in earnest: Write down names of journalists you associate with. Write down names of Palestinian organizations you support.' According to Aslan, he tried to cooperate as best as he could, but was accused of lying after answering each question. The Shin Bet interrogator warned Aslan not to enter the Palestinian territories, not to meet with or speak to any Palestinians or any Israeli troublemakers and warned him by saying that 'we are watching you,' Aslan wrote. Aslan concluded his tweets by saying that 'this was my 4th trip to Israel in ten years and every time it's gotten worse. It's becoming unrecognizable as a democracy. It is becoming a full-blown police state.'</font>" <p>"<a href="https://thinkprogress.org/fracking-is-destroying-americas-water-supply-new-study-9cb163923d24/">Fracking is destroying U.S. water supply, warns shocking new study</a>: <font color=maroon>Toxic wastewater from fracking jumps 14-fold from 2011 to 2016 &mdash; and it may get 50 times bigger by 2030.</font>" <p>Ellis Winningham, "<a href="http://elliswinningham.net/index.php/2016/08/17/public-purpose-spending-is-not-socialism-its-the-job-of-the-federal-government/">Public Purpose Spending is Not Socialism &mdash; It's the Job of the Federal Government</a>: <font color=maroon>There is an immense problem with the term 'socialism', especially in the United States, where the word is abused endlessly by right-wing politicians, 'free market' enthusiasts and now, even liberals have joined the red-baiting bandwagon, labeling former Sanders supporters, many of whom are now Stein supporters as 'socialists' and any proposed economic initiatives as 'socialism'. This is the result of a successful long-term propaganda campaign of intentional misinformation which causes the general public to view any public purpose spending as socialism and so, they irrationally fear the public purpose. Meanwhile, the 1% reaps the benefits through continued abuse of an unwitting public, allowing them to profit at the expense of the national economy and society. Let me assure you that there isn't an academic definition of socialism for those of us who possess degrees and then an entirely different one for the general public. It doesn't work that way. There is only one definition of socialism and we will discuss it today, because the nonsense needs to stop.</font>" <p>Ryan Cooper in <em>The Week</em>, "<a href="http://theweek.com/articles/790183/treachery-tom-perez">The treachery of Tom Perez</a>: <font color=maroon>Tom Perez is chair of the Democratic National Committee because wealthy centrist liberals &mdash; above all then-President Barack Obama &mdash; needed a convenient stooge to keep the party machinery out of the left's hands. He's serving his big donor masters loyally, and in the process failing his party, the United States of America, and humanity as a whole. Most egregiously, he recently reversed a ban on the party accepting donations from fossil fuel corporations, with the limp excuse that "[w]e're not a party that punishes workers simply based on how they make ends meet." The man is an obstacle to human flourishing.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>It takes a special kind of incompetence to sell out the party's activist base and not even be able to raise good money off it.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://democracyjournal.org/arguments/the-new-old-democrats/">The New Old Democrats</a>: <font color=maroon>It's not the 1990s anymore. People want the government to help solve big problems. Here's how the Democrats must respond.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/08/14/democrats-must-reclaim-the-center-by-moving-hard-left-219354">Democrats Must Reclaim the Center &mdash; by Moving Hard Left</a>: <font color=maroon>America needs a centrist party that actually represents the economic center, not just zillionaires like me.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>There once was a time when both parties vied to occupy the majoritarian center, an era when American politics was more a struggle over means than of ends &mdash; until, after three decades of unprecedented and broad-based post-war prosperity, the Republican Party lurched violently to the right, and the age of New Deal centrism came to a close. Supply-side tax cuts, attacks on unions, a crusade against 'big government' and other tactics of the Reagan revolution helped put us on the road to a new Gilded Age. And while Republicans certainly led the way, we wouldn't have gotten here as quickly had Democrats not kept driving in the same direction every time we managed to get our hands on the wheel.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-moderate-mainstream-centrist-b80991c80408">There Is No Such Thing As A Moderate Mainstream Centrist</a> [...] <font color=maroon>This is what passes for the American political 'center' today. Two mainstream parties, both backed to the hilt by the entirety of corporate media from coast to coast, arguing with each other over who is doing more to help advance cold war aggressions between two nuclear superpowers. They're not arguing about whether or not the world should be destroyed, they're arguing over who gets to push the button.</font> <p><a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/08/yves-smith-on-why-we-didnt-see-the-2008-crash-coming.html">Yves Smith on Why We Didn't See the 2008 Crash Coming</a> [...] <font color=maroon>One point that is often lost is the Bush administration courteously left $75 billion in the TARP for the Obama administration to use to pay for mortgage modifications, which they never used. Obama had an opportunity when he came in. The country was desperate and frightened. He could've done an FDR. He could've done almost anything. And yet, the die was cast when he appointed Timothy Geithner as his Treasury secretary. That was announced in mid-November. I mean, Obama is basically don't-rock-the boat. He may be center-left on social issues, but he's basically center-right on economic issues.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>We have this fallacy that normal people should be able to save for retirement. If public pension funds, which can invest at the very lowest possible fees, can't make this work, how is Joe Mom-and-Pop America gonna be able to do this? Again, it's back to the stagnant worker wages. So, great, we're not paying people enough, housing prices are very inflated. We've got this horrible medical system that costs way too much, and how are people supposed to put any money aside when their real estate and their rents and their health costs are going up? Why do you think we have Trump? I mean, even though he did a big bait-and-switch, as we all know, there were a lot of people that lost their homes, their community wasn't what it used to be, particularly if they lived in the Rust Belt. And then you have these people on the coast saying, 'Oh, they should go get training. It's disgusting.' I mean, let them eat cake is let them get training. What you hear from these coastal elites: People over 40, even over 35, are basically unhirable. Are you gonna train them? They're gonna waste their time thinking they can get a new job? I mean, that's just lunacy.</font> <p>"<a href="https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2018/08/explicable-mystery-national-debt.html">The Explicable Mystery of the National Debt</a> [...] <font color=maroon>The mystery is, while all this perpetual haggling and hand-wringing is happening, no one seems to be knocking on America's door asking to be repaid. Unlike Greece and Italy who are constantly being squeezed by the E.U. central bank and the IMF to repay their debts, no one seems to be squeezing the U.S. at all. Unlike Spain, which gets an earful from Germany if it even whispers about increasing its national borrowing, the U.S. hears nothing from anybody (except its own politicians and pundits) when it votes to raise the beanstalk one cap higher. How can that be? It's almost as if &mdash; weirdly &mdash; there isn't anyone out there expecting to get paid back.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>First, the U.S. 'national debt' is functionally not a debt at all. It is simply a tally of the U.S. Treasury bonds which the government has issued and then traded for U.S. dollars which already existed in the private sector. These Treasury bonds are in effect interest-paying, time-deposit savings accounts for the bond holders. You personally may have traded some of your retirement dollars for one of these 'savings accounts' and you know, firsthand, they definitely contain real money! The 'national debt,' then, is really a 'national savings account.'</font>" <p>Nice xkcd on <a href="https://xkcd.com/2030/">computerized voting</a>. Paper ballots, hand-counted in full public view on the night, y'all. <p>"<a href="https://shadowproof.com/2018/07/25/clinton-democrats-embrace-losing-strategy-combat-sanders-style-socialism-midterms/">Clinton Democrats Embrace Losing Strategy To Combat 'Sanders-Style Socialism' In Midterms</a>: <font color=maroon>Democratic Party elites are increasingly concerned the midterm elections will be a 'base election' and make their centrist politics even more irrelevant, as insurgent candidates like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez garner widespread support. The think tank, Third Way, recently held a conference in Ohio with Democrats, who primarily adhere to the politics of President Bill Clinton, and new recruits, who they hope will counter 'Bernie Sanders-style socialism.' They also intend to defend corporate executives and wealthy people from condemnation for their attacks on poor and working class Americans. 'Right now, in the Democratic Party, there is only one option on the table: Sanders-style socialism. That's the main option on the table. We're doing this now because the party's got to have a choice,' Jon Cowan, one of the presidents of Third Way, declared. 'It's going to matter a hell of a lot in 2020, and so while 2020 may feel a ways off, in our mind it isn't. And the ideas primary starts now.'</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.laprogressive.com/would-corporate-democrats-rather-lose/">Would Corporate Democrats Rather Lose Than Include Progressives?</a> [...] <font color=maroon>What the DNC and the centrist-corporatists who control it still refuse to accept is that anti-Republicanism &mdash; even anti-Trumpism &mdash; is not now, nor will it ever be, enough to lure the progressive populist left to the polls. Against history, against the 2016 election results, they assume that the default mode of a left-leaning voter is Democratic.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://truthout.org/articles/dnc-passes-resolution-reversing-ban-on-donations-from-fossil-fuel-pacs/">'Absolute Failure': DNC Passes Perez Resolution Reversing Ban on Donations From Fossil Fuel PACs</a>: <font color=maroon>Just two months after the Democratic National Committee (DNC) was celebrated by environmentalists for banning donations from fossil fuel companies, it voted 30-2 on Friday to adopt a resolution from Chair Tom Perez that critics said effectively reverses the ban and represents 'an absolute failure by the DNC.'</font>" <p>Ryan Cooper in <em>The Week</em>, "<a href="http://theweek.com/articles/788840/america-sale">America for sale</a>: <font color=maroon>Let's review some news from the first half of the week</font> [...] <font color=maroon>This is modern American politics, folks: rotten to its very marrow. Corruption is eating the United States alive. As the Numidian King Jugurtha supposedly said of the Roman Republic: 'Yonder lies a city put up for sale, and its days are numbered if it finds a buyer.'</font>" <p>David Dayen, "<a href="https://tinyletter.com/DavidDayen/letters/the-ceo-circle-of-trust">The CEO Circle of Trust</a>: <font color=maroon>About a year ago, CEOs enlisted PR underlings to send out strongly worded press releases distancing themselves from President Trump's allyship with hate in Charlottesville. A year later, five members of business advisory councils that were shuttered after Charlottesville sat down to dinner with the president. Because in the end, they want power on their side. Having power on your side can lead to fun things like secretly running a cabinet agency. Three Trump cronies from Mar-a-Lago, including Marvel Entertainment chairman Ike Perlmutter, are effectively setting policy for the Department of Veterans Affairs. I've just going to attribute the useless VA hotline to them. By the way, Perlmutter keeps a grip on this power by... having dinners with Trump. I don't know the dining schedule of the CEOs of Nucor and U.S. Steel, but as long as they keep close to Trump, they can maximize monopoly power by rejecting requests for exemptions to foreign steel tariffs. (by the way I called this one.) And if you're a CEO who's really in tight with Trump, you can just get your own cabinet agency outright, like demonstrable grifter Wilbur Ross, who until just weeks ago still had major investments in shipping companies while running the Commerce Department, whose logo has a ship on it. We're seeing a fusion of business and the state that only has precedent if you take the word "fascism" literally. Corporate titans are learning that kissing the president's ring for the next 2-6 years is the way to get ahead in life. And now that the SEC wants a word with Elon Musk over his obvious chicanery in tweeting about taking Tesla private, he may want to book a room in the Trump hotel in D.C. too.</font>" <p>Another own-goal when "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/08/09/koch-brothers-health-care-free-college/">The Koch Brothers Commissioned A Survey Of Americans And Found Most Like A $15 Minimum Wage, Free College, And Universal Health Care</a>: <font color=maroon>DURING THE MONTH of July, the marketing and communications group In Pursuit Of &mdash; launched by the Koch brothers in 2017&mdash; conducted a survey of Americans on a range of issues. The poll was later written up by RealClearPolitics, which spun the results as favorable to the Koch network. RealClearPolitics noted that on a set of vague values questions, Americans appeared to take the conservative or libertarian side of political arguments. For instance, RealClearPolitics noted that the survey found that 86 percent of Americans said the right to personal property is key to a free and just society. Okay, sure.</font>" (Did anyone mention the difference between "personal property" and "private property", I wonder?) Short version: Despite the fact that the Kochs have put millions of dollars into convincing Americans that we don't want more regulation of Wall Street, free college, a living wage, and a lot of other things that the Kochs don't like, Americans still think they'd be an improvement over what we have now. <p>"<a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/kris-kobach-recuses-himself-from-kansas-vote-count-amid-public-pressure/">Kobach Recuses Himself From Kansas Vote Count Amid Public Pressure</a>" &mdash; Kobach is a sleazebag grifter who is famous for trying to cook the vote. Even a lot of local Republicans are getting sick of him. <p>A pretty straightforward chart accompanies this article, "<a href="http://www.eoionline.org/blog/x-marks-the-spot-where-inequality-took-root-dig-here/">'X' Marks the Spot Where Inequality Took Root: Dig Here</a> [...] <font color=maroon>The graphic below tells three stories. First, we see two distinct historic periods since World War II. In the first period, workers shared the gains from productivity. In the later period, a generation of workers gained little, even as productivity continued to rise. The second message is the very abrupt transition from the post-war historic period to the current one. Something happened in the mid-70's to de-couple wages from productivity gains. The third message is that workers' wages &mdash; accounting for inflation and all the lower prices from cheap imported goods &mdash; would be double what they are now, if workers still took their share of gains in productivity.</font>" I kept getting the feeling there was something he was trying not to say, though. <p>Lauren Windsor had a few choice words for the opportunist debutentes in, "<a href="https://www.ladylibertine.net/blog/polishing-turds-at-third-way">Polishing Turds at Third Way</a>: <font color=maroon>A few weeks ago, I debunked the spin out from CNBC that Sen. Mark Warner is being pressured by major Democratic donors to run for president in 2020 as a moderate counter to liberal Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren -- according to my source, "he is indeed running" and has been pitching the idea since at least September of 2017. It's worth noting that CNBC did not name any of these big donors, and I suspect that's because they hail from the likes of centrist, establishment DC think tank Third Way, which has been burned in the past for launching broadsides against Warren.</font>" These people think if they can just find the right PR, they can keep sailing this stuff by us all. <p>Margaret Kimberly, "<a href="https://www.blackagendareport.com/freedom-rider-united-states-destroys-venezuelas-economy">The United States Destroys Venezuela's Economy</a> [...] <font color=maroon>Sanctions are war by other means, invisible to most eyes.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>In 2015 Barack Obama issued an executive order declaring Venezuela to be 'an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.' That decree is necessary in order to impose economic sanctions. But sanctions do not only mean that American corporations and individuals cannot do business with the targeted country. Any country that conducts economic transactions with Venezuela will also be subject to sanctions. Even in its state of decline the United States is the 800-pound financial gorilla that can't be ignored.</font>" <p>The <em>Economist</em> tries to explain why <a href="https://www.economist.com/briefing/2018/07/12/americas-electoral-system-gives-the-republicans-advantages-over-democrats">America's electoral system gives the Republicans advantages over Democrats</a>: <font color=maroon>The constitution was not designed for the two-party politics it unwittingly encouraged.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2009/jan/27/holocaust-memorial-day-43-group-public-event">They stood up to hatred</a>" &mdash; They came back from defeating the fascists only to find them at home. The 43 Group, including a young <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-559709/How-King-Crimpers-Vidal-Sassoon-cut-Britains-fascist-thugs-size.html">Vidal Sassoon</a>, took their outrage to the streets. Years later, they contributed to this oral history. Watch <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBusQBSCAHY"><em>A Rage In Dalston</em></a>. <p>Film review of "<a href="http://sfbayview.com/2015/09/the-black-panthers-vanguard-of-the-revolution/"><em></em>The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution</a> [...] <font color=maroon>One thing that I loved about this documentary was that it told a piece of the story of the Panthers from the perspectives of a number of the major leaders, including Huey P. Newton, Bobby Seale, Eldridge Cleaver, David Hilliard, Kathleen Cleaver, Ericka Huggins, Emory Douglas, Fred Hampton and others, but it also told the history from the perspectives of the rank and file members &mdash; people like the Freeman brothers, William Calhoun, Wayne Pharr, Steve McClutchen, Tarika Lewis, Blair Anderson, Jamal Joseph, Landon Williams and others.</font>" <p>Mark Evanier posted an episode of <em>Firing Line</em> in which <a href="https://www.newsfromme.com/2018/08/13/todays-video-link-2740/">William F. Buckley interviewed Groucho Marx</a>, which he introduces by reposting something he wrote about Buckley earlier. It's all true. <p>A threat to the Gnome Liberation Front from gentrification: "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/09/opinion/germany-garden-gnomes-endangered.html">Are Germany's Garden Gnomes Endangered?</a>" <p>This guy does <a href="https://boingboing.net/2018/08/09/watch-this-brilliant-response.html">photoshopping for you</a>, but maybe not the way you wanted. Some of these are laugh out loud. <p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdSpm574rUU">Baby elephants' first bath</a>Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-22851060927815690442018-08-09T22:47:00.003+01:002018-08-12T03:51:06.711+01:00Did you see her crying?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fPO9Ygb3Zgg/W2y2Spib20I/AAAAAAAAB40/8djU5uc17ggDRKFoajFL9qz1PLEf8XnTACLcBGAs/s1600/SomeRichAsshole.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fPO9Ygb3Zgg/W2y2Spib20I/AAAAAAAAB40/8djU5uc17ggDRKFoajFL9qz1PLEf8XnTACLcBGAs/s320/SomeRichAsshole.png" width="320" height="319" data-original-width="749" data-original-height="747" /></a></div> <p>So many evils can be traced back to Richard Nixon. "<a href="http://www.investmentwatchblog.com/did-you-know-that-before-1973-it-was-illegal-in-the-us-to-profit-off-of-health-care-the-health-maintenance-organization-act-of-1973-passed-by-nixon-changed-everything/">Did you know that before 1973 it was illegal in the US to profit off of health care. The Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973 passed by Nixon changed everything</a>. <font color=maroon>In 1973, Nixon did a personal favor for his friend and campaign financier, Edgar Kaiser, then president and chairman of Kaiser-Permanente. Nixon signed into law, the Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973, in which medical insurance agencies, hospitals, clinics and even doctors, could begin functioning as for-profit business entities instead of the service organizations they were intended to be. And which insurance company got the first taste of federal subsidies to implement HMOA73 ... *gasp* ... why, it was Kaiser-Permanente! What are the odds?</font>" Now, if only we can explain why the so-called liberal champion of health care, Edward Kennedy, proposed this piece of crap. <p>I'm not going to post the details, but so far nearly half of the Our Revolution types have been winning primaries and elections. Considering the fact that most of them are running against establishment picks and incumbents, that's actually a pretty remarkable record. <p>"<a href="https://jacobinmag.com/2018/07/medicare-for-all-mercatus-center-report/">Even Libertarians Admit Medicare for All Would Save Trillions</a>: <font color=maroon>A new study from a libertarian think tank admits that Medicare for All would save a whopping $2 trillion.</font>" Of course, the headline buried the lead on every story about this, but this Koch-funded study tried to make M4A sound more expensive than what we have now and still couldn't, despite underestimating the likely costs of continuing the way we are <em>and</em> the potential savings of the proposed program. <p><a href="https://youtu.be/pyC4grL-Uag">Bernie Sanders thanks the Koch brothers for accidentally showing that Medicare for All saves two trillion dollars</a>. <p>RIP: Another guy I would have loved to vote for once, for president: "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/30/obituaries/ron-dellums-forceful-liberal-in-congress-for-27-years-dies-at-82.html"><b>Ron Dellums</b>, Forceful Liberal in Congress for 27 Years, Dies at 82</a>. <font color=maroon>Ron Dellums, the son of a longshoreman who became one of America's best-known black congressmen, a California Democrat with a left-wing agenda that put civil rights and programs for people ahead of weapons systems and warfare, died early Monday at his home in Washington. He was 82.</font>" <p>RIP: <a href="http://www.bluejersey.com/2018/08/rip-joel-silberman-teamjoel/"><b>Joel Silberman</b></a>, activist, organizer, performer, and show biz mensch. We were hopeful when Joel's doctors said they thought they'd caught his pancreatic cancer early enough, but though he fought and continued to run workshops and keep on doing what he did right up to the end, he finally had to admit defeat and say farewell to us. I will always treasure the reports, clips, and musings he posted for his friends during that journey, and I was pleased to see a statement on Joel's passing from <a href="https://lee.house.gov/news/press-releases/rep-barbara-lee-statement-on-passing-of-joel-silberman">Rep. Barbara Lee</a>. <p>"<a href="http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2018/08/should-republican-billionaires-be_5.html">Should Republican Billionaires Be Picking Democratic Candidates The Way They Already Pick GOP Candidates?</a> <font color=maroon>Let's start with some news: Last week, Fox News' James Rupert Murdoch, a British billionaire, put half a million dollars into one of Nancy Jacobson's shady No Labels SuperPACs that aims to fill Congress with candidates from the Republican Wing of the Democratic Party. Their current goal is a smear campaign against Alan Grayson. Most recently, Jacobson pulled off the same filth against Marie Newman in Illinois' 3rd District House primary, spending $931,600 to spread absolute lies against Newman while bolstering anti-Choice Blue Dog Dan Lipinski.</font>" <p>We're number one! "<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/07/27/us-worst-place-world-give-birth-usa-today-investigation">US the 'Worst Place in the World' to Give Birth: USA Today Investigation</a> [...] <font color=maroon>"Deadly Deliveries," the result of a four-year investigation, references federal data showing that more than 50,000 women are 'severely injured' and roughly 700 die during childbirth each year. Perhaps even more staggering is that "half of these deaths could be prevented and half the injuries reduced or eliminated with better care," the investigation found.</font>" <p>On <em>The Zero Hour</em>, Richard J. Eskow interviewed <a href="https://youtu.be/MhKW1PQz5Pw">David Dayen on Global Trade: With or Without Trump, It's Chaos</a>. <p><em>Citations Needed</em> podcast, "<a href="https://soundcloud.com/citationsneeded/episode-45-the-not-so-benevolent-billionaire-bill-gates-and-western-media">The Not-So-Benevolent Billionaire - Bill Gates and Western Media</a>" - the media is awfully kind to Bill Gates, even when his philanthropy does more harm than good. <p>Never in my life did I expect Devin Nunes to do what I've been waiting for Democrats to do for 18 years: "<a href="http://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/398949-house-intel-chair-calls-for-ban-on-electronic-voting-systems?userid=274799">House Intel chair calls for ban on electronic voting systems</a>: <font color=maroon>House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) called for a ban on electronic voting systems in an interview that aired Thursday on Hill.TV's <em>Rising</em>. 'The one thing we've been warning about for many, many years on the Intelligence committee is about the electronic voting systems,' Nunes told Hill.TV's Buck Sexton, who sat with the lawmaker on Wednesday. 'Those are really dangerous in my opinion, and should not be used. In California &mdash; at least in the counties that I represent &mdash; they do not use an electronic system,' he continued. 'I think anybody that does that, and that's communicating over the web, it's going to be a challenge. So you have to make sure that you limit that as much as possible, and we need a paper trail so that you can go back in case you have to do a manual recount,' he said.</font>" <p>OK, this one makes no sense at all. I can't see millions of Trump voters saying, "Yes, make my car get fewer miles to the gallon! And since most states have stricter standards than the federal requirements already, and car-makers are having no trouble meeting those standards, who the hell is this for? "<a href="https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/to-nix-obama-fuel-standard-white-house-argues-that-better-gas-mileage-is-dangerous">To Nix Obama Fuel Standard, WH Argues That Better Gas Mileage Is Dangerous</a>." <p>Dismayingly, John Oliver seems to have fallen for the establishment story on Venezuela, but <a href="https://youtu.be/_fV-C1Ag5sI">none of it is true</a>. (We've already noticed media stories showing empty supermarket shelves - without mentioning that those shelves are not in Venezuela, but in the United States. We're also not told that the reason <em>some</em> popular products are not on the shelves at the moment is that the companies that sell those products are deliberately withholding them to try to give the appearance of food shortages - but, in fact, people are eating just fine. And that's just one little thing.) <p><a href="https://twitter.com/danielmarans/status/1021408264758743040">It's official: @RepBarbaraLee is running for House Democratic Caucus chair</a>. <font color=maroon> "There is nothing more important than returning bold Democratic leadership to Congress."</font> But Howie wonders, "<a href="http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2018/07/what-excuse-will-they-use-this-time-to.html">What Excuse Will They Use This Time To Keep Barbara Lee Out Of The House Democratic Leadership?</a>" <p>"<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/07/26/139-house-democrats-join-gop-approve-717-billion-military-spending">139 House Democrats Join GOP to Approve $717 Billion in Military Spending</a>: <font color=maroon>'How are they going to pay for this? Oh wait, that question only gets asked when it comes to social programs that benefit the working class.'</font>" <p>Lee Fang and Nick Surgey, "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/08/02/healthcare-medicare-for-all-hawaii/">Health Care Lobbyists Secretly Secure Democrats' Opposition To 'Medicare For All,' Internal Documents Show</a> [...] <font color=maroon>The Healthcare Leadership Council has closely tracked what its lobbyists have described as the 'leftward movement' within the Democratic Party. In Hawaii and other states, the lobby group wanted to know if ideas popularized by Sen., Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. &mdash; such as aggressive proposals to reduce the cost of pharmaceuticals and institute a single-payer health care system modeled on Medicare &mdash; were taking hold. The council, which spends over $5 million a year on industry advocacy and brings together chief executives of major health corporations, represents an array of health industries, including insurers, hospitals, drugmakers, medical device manufacturers, pharmacies, health product distributors, and information technology companies. The group's focus on competitive open seats around the country &mdash; like Hawaii's 1st Congressional District &mdash; is aimed at shaping the next generation of lawmakers' views on health care policy.</font> <p>"<a href="https://citylimits.org/2017/06/30/next-100-days-in-the-era-of-trump-nys-is-out-of-step-and-in-the-crosshairs/">Next 100 Days: In the Era of Trump, NYS is Out of Step and In the Crosshairs</a> [...] <font color=maroon>'By 2040, 70 percent of Americans are expected to live in the 15 largest states, which are also home to the overwhelming majority of the 30 largest cities in the country. By extension, 30 percent of Americans will live in the other 35 states. That means that the 70 percent of Americans get all of 30 Senators and 30 percent of Americans get 70 Senators,' Birdsell says.</font>" So, most people will be crammed together in a few states, and the minority will be in control of Congress, which means cities will have very little say in what goes on. <p>It's hard to tell whether <em>Forbes</em> is cheering or trying to horrify me with this story. "<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesdigitalcovers/2018/07/17/an-unlikely-group-of-billionaires-and-politicians-has-created-the-most-unbelievable-tax-break-ever/">An Unlikely Group Of Billionaires And Politicians Has Created The Most Unbelievable Tax Break Ever</a> [...] <font color=maroon>Too good to be true? 'The incentive needs to be powerful enough that it can unlock large amounts of capital, aggregate that capital into funds and force the funds to invest in distressed areas," says Parker, the original Facebook president whose think tank, the Economic Innovation Group, created the policy and helped press it into law. Instead of having government hand out pools of taxpayer dollars, you have savvy investors directing money into projects they think will succeed.' The heart of this new law: Opportunity Zones, or "O-zones,' low-income areas designated by each state. Investors will soon be able to plow recently realized capital gains into projects or companies based there, slowly erase the tax obligations on a portion of those gains and, more significantly, have those proceeds grow tax-free. There are almost no limits. No limits on how much you can put in, how much tax you can avoid and, for most of the country, the types of taxes you can avoid, whether federal, state or local. No limits on how long those proceeds compound tax-free. And precious few limits on what types of investments you can make.</font>" Right, instead of the government putting money into projects in poor communities, they give it to investors to... Wait, haven't we heard all this before? <p>Dday, "<a href="https://tinyletter.com/DavidDayen/letters/the-obamacare-cover-story">The Obamacare cover story</a>: <font color=maroon>Spikes in insurance premiums on the Obamacare exchanges never gets foregrounded as a reason for the 2016 election outcome. Here are a few examples: 17 percent in Michigan. 43 percent in Iowa. 50 percent in Minnesota. It's an October surprise hard-wired into the electoral calendar, in one of the more abominable decisions in liberal history. And those premium rises may have soured people on the signature achievement of the Democratic era, and moved a few undecideds. But never mind that, because a shiny new narrative has been constructed that Donald Trump's sabotage of the exchanges, not their rickety structure to begin with, has set the table for Medicare for All.</font>" <p>Naomi Klein at <em>The Intercept</em>, "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/08/03/climate-change-new-york-times-magazine/">Capitalism Killed Our Climate Momentum, Not 'Human Nature'</a>: <font color=maroon>THIS SUNDAY, THE entire New York Times Magazine will be composed of just one article on a single subject: the failure to confront the global climate crisis in the 1980s, a time when the science was settled and the politics seemed to align. Written by Nathaniel Rich, this work of history is filled with insider revelations about roads not taken that, on several occasions, made me swear out loud. And lest there be any doubt that the implications of these decisions will be etched in geologic time, Rich's words are punctuated with full-page aerial photographs by George Steinmetz that wrenchingly document the rapid unraveling of planetary systems, from the rushing water where Greenland ice used to be to massive algae blooms in China's third largest lake. The novella-length piece represents the kind of media commitment that the climate crisis has long deserved but almost never received. We have all heard the various excuses for why the small matter of despoiling our only home just doesn't cut it as an urgent news story: 'Climate change is too far off in the future'; 'It's inappropriate to talk about politics when people are losing their lives to hurricanes and fires'; 'Journalists follow the news, they don't make it &mdash; and politicians aren't talking about climate change'; and of course: 'Every time we try, it's a ratings killer.' None of the excuses can mask the dereliction of duty. It has always been possible for major media outlets to decide, all on their own, that planetary destabilization is a huge news story, very likely the most consequential of our time. They always had the capacity to harness the skills of their reporters and photographers to connect abstract science to lived extreme weather events. And if they did so consistently, it would lessen the need for journalists to get ahead of politics because the more informed the public is about both the threat and the tangible solutions, the more they push their elected representatives to take bold action. [...] That's also why it is so enraging that the piece is spectacularly wrong in its central thesis.</font> <p>"<a href="https://splinternews.com/whats-this-a-genuinely-left-wing-panel-on-cable-tv-1827852665">What's This? A Genuinely Left Wing Panel on Cable TV?!</a> <font color=maroon>Last night, MSNBC's All In with Chris Hayes broadcast something that is almost unprecedented in our modern era: four left wing people on TV, speaking about politics. Whoa. The panel was made up of The Majority Report's Sam Seder, New York Times opinion columnist Michelle Goldberg, and The Intercept's Senior Politics Editor Briahna Gray. They were there to talk about conservative media's reaction to the surprise primary victory of New York City congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.</font>" (Video included.) <p><a href="https://www.eschatonblog.com/2018/07/the-other-problem.html">Atrios</a>: <font color=maroon>Is the idea (widespread, but wrong) <a href="https://www.eschatonblog.com/2018/07/boomercorps_25.html">that these are</a> 'unskilled' jobs because they are often low paid and therefore you can just throw anyone into them. Almost all the job categories listed are stereotypically work for women, which is one reason they are so low paid, but aside from that I don't know why people think you can just throw anybody into 'early childhood education' or 'after-school care' or 'childcare' generally.</font>" <p>They sound like opportunist Republicans who just switched their R to a D for electoral advantage, but Third Way are now calling themselves "Opportunity Democrats", yet another tone-deaf phrase from people who have lost the plot. Sara Jones at <em>The New Republic</em> reports on their latest roll-out with, "<a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/150144/no-silent-centrist-majority">There Is No Silent Centrist Majority</a>: <font color=maroon>The base of the Democratic Party is much further to the left than moderates recognize.</font>" You can tell who you're hearing from by the fact that they regard people who want health care and living wage, a majority of Americans, as "far-left". <p>Really, you can't make this stuff up. "<a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/07/democratic-centrists-ready-to-fight-trump-and-bernie.html">Undaunted Democratic Centrists Ready to Fight Trump and Bernie at Same Time</a> [...] <font color=maroon>The new economic platform leans heavily on words like 'earn' and 'opportunity,' and away from demonizing tycoons &mdash; 'For most Americans, billionaires and millionaires are not next door, or part of their lived experience,' Cowan said in his opening speech. The policy backbone of the pitch includes an American Investment Bank designed to back 'Main Street, not Wall Street' entrepreneurs, a 'Boomer Corps' part-time national-service program for senior citizens whose earnings would be tax-free (on top of their Social Security), a massive state-driven apprenticeship system, and universal private retirement savings accounts funded by employers.</font>" They still think the "swing voters" are in the "middle of the road" and that's who they are pitching to. They have no clue that they lost the middle years ago. <font color=maroon>'Everybody's got a camera on their phone. That never worked, but it really doesn't now: You can't just go and say one thing to one group and another to another group,' said Jason Kander, the former Missouri secretary of state who last month opted to run for Kansas City mayor rather than president, making the case onstage that you lose both the base and swing voters if you try to differentiate between them.</font>" Oh, and watch out for Mitch Landrieu, who they seem to like a lot. <p>"<a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/07/third-ways-centrism-is-dead-the-left-has-already-won-the-debate-over-the-democratic-party.html">Centrism Is Dead</a>: <font color=maroon>The left has already won the debate over which ideas should animate the Democratic Party.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/04/campaigns-dark-money-groups-donors-anonymous-ruling-762440">Judge's ruling invalidates FEC regulation allowing anonymous donations to 'dark money' groups</a>: <font color=maroon>A U.S. District Court judge on Friday issued a ruling invalidating a Federal Election Commission regulation that has allowed donors to so-called dark-money groups to remain anonymous, the latest development in a years-long legal battle that could have major implications for campaign finance. Judge Beryl A. Howell ruled the FEC's current regulation of such groups, including 501(c) 4 non-profits, fails to uphold the standard Congress intended when it required the disclosure of politically related spending.</font>" <p><a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/07/21/ecuador-will-imminently-withdraw-asylum-for-julian-assange-and-hand-him-over-to-the-uk-what-comes-next/">Ecuador Will Imminently Withdraw Asylum for Julian Assange and Hand Him Over to the U.K. What Comes Next?</a> <font color=maroon>ECUADOR'S PRESIDENT Lenin Moreno traveled to London on Friday for the ostensible purpose of speaking at the 2018 Global Disabilities Summit (Moreno has been using a wheelchair since being shot in a 1998 robbery attempt). The concealed, actual purpose of the president's trip is to meet with British officials to finalize an agreement under which Ecuador will withdraw its asylum protection of Julian Assange, in place since 2012, eject him from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, and then hand over the WikiLeaks founder to British authorities. Moreno's itinerary also notably includes a trip to Madrid, where he will meet with Spanish officials still seething over Assange's denunciation of human rights abuses perpetrated by Spain's central government against protesters marching for Catalonian independence. Almost three months ago, Ecuador blocked Assange from accessing the internet, and Assange has not been able to communicate with the outside world ever since. The primary factor in Ecuador's decision to silence him was Spanish anger over Assange's tweets about Catalonia.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>The consequences of such an agreement depend in part on the concessions Ecuador extracts in exchange for withdrawing Assange's asylum. But as former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa told The Intercept in an interview in May, Moreno's government has returned Ecuador to a highly 'subservient' and 'submissive' posture toward western governments. It is thus highly unlikely that Moreno &mdash; who has shown himself willing to submit to threats and coercion from the U.K., Spain and the U.S. &mdash; will obtain a guarantee that the U.K. not extradite Assange to the U.S., where top Trump officials have vowed to prosecute Assange and destroy WikiLeaks.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/bigfoot-porn-house-race-virginia_us_5b5ec4f5e4b0de86f4988800">Bigfoot Porn Has Become A Major Controversy In A U.S. House Race. Seriously</a>. <font color=maroon>A Virginia Republican who has been linked to white supremacists now faces accusations of liking Bigfoot erotica.</font>" <p>Is Trump about to lower drug prices? David Dayen at <em>The American Prospect</em>, "<a href="http://prospect.org/article/trump-eliminates-middleman">Trump Eliminates the Middleman</a>: <font color=maroon>His administration takes aim at the heretofore legal kickbacks to prescription drug distributors &mdash; but leaves the drug companies themselves untouched.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Food and Drug Administration, both led by drug company veterans, have started with pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), the middlemen who negotiate prices with drug companies on behalf of health plans and reimburse pharmacies after sale. PBMs exploit an information advantage in this multi-sided market to skim as much as one in every five dollars out of every prescription drug purchase, harming pharmacies, health plans, and consumers alike.</font>" <p>And DDay at <em>The Intercept</em>, "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/07/27/mick-mulvaney-consumer-protection-corporate-fines/">The 'Mulvaney Discount': Trump'S Consumer Protection Czar Is Shrinking Fines For Law-Breaking Companies</a> [...] <font color=maroon>After pausing enforcement work when Acting Director Mick Mulvaney took over, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has been on a relative tear, announcing five civil settlements of cases begun under Mulvaney's predecessor, Richard Cordray. But in at least three of them, CFPB has explicitly reduced the fine handed down against corporate offenders to a fraction of the initial amount. The smaller fines mean softer punishment for violations of law and, in some cases, less restitution to victims of the misconduct.</font>" <p>Naturally, the "centrist" Dems are <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/leggett-not-ready-to-endorse-jealous-some-other-democrats-are-tepid/2018/07/26/3031eafe-8f7c-11e8-8322-b5482bf5e0f5_story.html?utm_term=.6c10c9f72bb5">having trouble making themselves enthusiastic about supporting Ben Jealous</a> in the Maryland election. The sticking point seems to be that he is insufficiently supportive of letting Amazon headquarter in the state - no doubt a wiser move than they're prepared to admit. This story, of course, appears in the newspaper owned by Jeff Bezos. <p>"<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/07/21/bernie-sanders-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-kansas-james-thompson-brent-welder/">Bernie Sanders And Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Went To War With Partisanship In Kansas</a> [...] <font color=maroon>Though the first of two rallies held Friday was ostensibly in support of James Thompson, a candidate for Kansas's 4th Congressional District, the gestalt of the day's remarks was something bigger than any one race. The speeches &mdash; particularly Sanders's &mdash; announced a unifying theme that felt too coherent to have been thrown together for a House primary or two. Individually, the remarks were compelling. Together, they comprised an unabashed declaration of post-partisan movement building &mdash; a rebuke to those in power who fetishize every identity-based division in order to diffuse the largest coalition in the country: the working class.</font>" <p>Dean Baker, "<a href="http://cepr.net/blogs/beat-the-press/trump-s-victory-in-trade-war">Trump's 'Victory' in Trade War</a>: <font color=maroon>Like many economists I have been puzzled over the likely end game in the trade war that Donald Trump has initiated with most of our major trading partners. He has escalated his rhetoric and put together a large list of imports to be hit with tariffs. His demands are vague and continually shifting. This doesn't look like the way to win a trade war. But then I remembered we are talking about reality TV show host Donald Trump. Winning a trade war for this reality TV show star doesn't mean winning a trade war in the way that economists might envision. It's not a question of forcing concessions from trading partners that will improve our trade balance and the overall health of the economy. It's a question of being able to hold something up that allows Trump to declare victory. That doesn't require much.</font>" <p>Interesting interview on <em>The Majority Report</em>: <a href="https://youtu.be/54iYBed10os">The Fall of Wisconsin w/ Dan Kaufman - MR Live - 7/25/2018</a>. A lot of us wondered about that. <p><a href="https://www.theroot.com/bernie-sanders-takes-on-unjust-cash-bail-system-but-st-1827886869?utm_medium=socialflow&utm_source=theroot_twitter">Bernie Sanders takes on institutional racism and gets accused of not making the connection with institutional racism</a>. That's not the headline of the article, which is where the accusation is actually made, but the first comment below the article is a great response. <p>I like the way it's framed in <em>The New York Times</em>, complete with a photo of Bernie at the top, "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/06/opinion/columnists/bernie-sanders-cash-bail.html">'Modern Day Debtors' Prisons'</a>: <font color=maroon>The time has come to end cash bail, a major factor in inequality in the court system. Despite releasing a comprehensive and remarkably radical criminal justice reform agenda in 2015, Senator Bernie Sanders was accused throughout his presidential campaign of being insufficiently concerned with the topic, and of habitually changing the subject to economics. The reality is that Mr. Sanders has the clearest insight into the connections between criminal justice issues and economic inequality of any major politician today. And nowhere, perhaps, are those connections more obvious than in the instance of cash bail.</font>" <p>Not sure whether I posted this article when it came out in 2009, but whenever I think about this stuff, I want to smack Bill Clinton and his little friends around the room. "<a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-blumenthal/how-congress-rushed-a-bil_b_181926.html">How Congress Rushed a Bill that Helped Bring the Economy to Its Knees</a>: <font color=maroon>n the waning days of the 106th Congress and the Clinton administration, Congress met in a lame-duck session to complete work on a variety of appropriations bills that were not passed prior to the 2000 election. There were other, unmet pet priorities of some lawmakers that were under consideration as well. One of those pet priorities was a 262-page deregulatory bill, the Commodity Futures Modernization Act. Tucked into a bloated 11,000 page conference report as a rider, with little consideration and no time for review, this bill would be viewed only eight years later as part of the failure of our political system abetting a financial storm that brought the world to its knees.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/elite-fixation-russiagate/">The Elite Fixation With Russiagate</a>: <font color=maroon>Does a broader public share this sense of crisis?</font>" The public seems less concerned with Russia than with bread &amp; butter issues, Trump is even being harsher toward Russia than Obama was, and no one meddles with our foreign policy like that great puppeteer, <a href="https://twitter.com/TimesofIsrael/status/1019300253286072320">Bebe Netenyahu</a>. <p>"<a href="https://www.blackagendareport.com/freedom-rider-russiagate-covers-black-vote-theft">Russiagate Covers Up Black Vote Theft</a>: <font color=maroon>The corporate media and their friends in the Democratic Party are whipping up so much hatred and disinformation that it is almost impossible to discuss Russia or its president, Vladimir Putin. Putin is a multi-purpose villain. He is blamed for the vote theft conducted by white Americans against black people that resulted in the Donald Trump presidency. What is clear is that the Republicans stole the 2016 election for Donald Trump with a combination of voter suppression and outright theft directed against black people. Trump supposedly won the state of Michigan) by a 10,000 vote margin, but more than 75,000 votes cast in majority black cities Flint and Detroit went uncounted because of 'malfunctioning' voting machines. An additional 449,000 voters in that state were purged from the rolls through the infamous Crosscheck system.</font>" <p>Taibbi, "<a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/taibbi-an-ode-to-the-feeble-corporate-apology-629452/">Taibbi: An Ode to the Feeble Corporate Apology</a>: <font color=maroon>Some of America's biggest capitalist entities are begging for forgiveness on TV &mdash; while barely acknowledging their sins</font> [...] <font color=maroon>There are times when corporate apologies are appropriate and can be taken at face value. After the Tylenol murders in the '80s, for instance, Johnson & Johnson created a new standard in introducing safety caps and the brand (rightfully) survived. That scandal wasn't the company's fault, but it did the right thing anyway. The three companies apologizing now are a little guiltier.</font>" <p>In <em>Dissent</em>, "<a href="https://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/acorn-firestorm-documentary-breitbart-vs-grassroots">The Right-Wing Firestorm That Rages On</a>: <font color=maroon>A new documentary reveals how the right-wing attack on the national, grassroots anti-poverty group ACORN was a dress rehearsal for our current toxic political culture.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/07/21/big-tent-really-no-tent-why-democrats-old-guard-has-get-out-way?amp">The Big Tent Is Really No Tent: Why the Democrats' Old Guard Has to Get Out of the Way</a>: <font color=maroon>It's time for the party to follow the people and back a set of progressive policies and candidates that put people first.</font> <font color=maroon>'The nearly complete defeat of the centrist, corporate Democrats over the last four decades should have made it obvious that the age of the DLC centrists has been coming to an end for some time."The Democratic Party's leadership would phrase it differently. Something like, 'Their go our people. We must stop them, or they will make us give up our triangulating centrism,' or more likely, '...they will make us give up our corporate campaign contributions.'</font>" <p>Thomas Frank, "<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jul/27/liberals-donald-trump-rightwing-populism">Can liberals please work out how to win back the working class?</a> <font color=maroon>I'm taking a pause from journalism &mdash; while I'm gone, can someone please tell the Democrats that they need to stop betraying the movements that support them.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Still, as we are reminded at every turn, this flawed organization is the only weapon we have against the party of Trump. And as the president's blunders take a turn for the monumental and public alarm grows, the imperative of delivering a Democratic wave this fall grows ever more urgent. Make no mistake: it has got to happen. Democrats simply have to take one of the houses of Congress this fall and commence holding Trump accountable. Failure at this baseline mission is unthinkable; it will mean the Democratic party has no reason for being, even on its own compromised terms.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/americas-heart-of-darkness/2018/07/24/34abd10a-8f66-11e8-b769-e3fff17f0689_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.5e9ddb2caa80&wpisrc=nl_most&wpmm=1">America's heart of darkness</a> [...] <font color=maroon>We're about there, I think &mdash; perhaps not every single one of us, perhaps not just yet, but the conditions are right and the summer is long. The entire 2016 episode has been, in some sense, an introspective journey into America's own innermost parts, with Donald Trump's victory prompting a nervous self-inventory of what we value, whether our institutions work and to what degree we ought to trust one another. The full contents of that inward odyssey have yet to unfold. But on the question of institutional functioning, the news is unequivocally grim. Like Marlow, even after this particular chapter has ended, we are likely to find ourselves changed by what we've seen.</font>" <p>"<a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/08/america-10-years-after-the-financial-crisis.html">2008:Ten Years After the Crash, We Are Still Living in the World It Brutally Remade</a>" &mdash; essays by Frank Rich, Sheila Bair (Former head of FDIC), Corey Robin,Robert Shiller,Matt Bruenig, Yves Smith, Boots Riley, Stephanie Kelton, and others, and some depressing statistics. <p>Here's <a href="http://mediaroots.org/mark-ames-on-post-soviet-russia-made-in-the-u-s-a/">Mark Ames talking about his experiences in Russia</a> and giving his analysis of what's going on now. <font color=maroon>Boris Yeltsin in his five years in office dragged Russia into a war in which about 100,000 people were killed, and they lost. The average life expectancy of a Russian male plummeted from 68 years to 56 years. It had a death to birth ratio perhaps never seen in the 20th century, even during war times. People were just dying like flies everywhere. There was no state support, just pure banditry starting with Yeltsin at the top, all the way down. So he had actually &mdash; unlike Putin &mdash; say what you will about him &mdash; but I think even his enemies agree he is very popular. They might blame it on the propaganda, but he is popular. His ratings are still in the 80th percentile range, and he's always been popular. With Yeltsin you had to perform a miracle. This guy was absolutely hated and is still one of the probably two or three most hated Russians in modern history for what he did to the country. And so it was a tough job, and Clinton was also running for re-election that year [1996], and Clinton did not want to be known as the president who 'lost Russia' if Yeltsin's communist opponent won.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>I didn't see the anger really explode until we bombed Kosovo in 1999. Then suddenly all these Russians turned against us, and it all kind of started make sense to them, but before then you had the most equal society where the privileged people had a somewhat nicer dacha or the really privileged ones maybe had a car, or the super, super privileged had a car and a driver, but no one was a billionaire, and there certainly weren't millions and millions of people starving in the streets or half starving in the streets. So you went from the world's most equal society to the world's most unequal society in a very short period of time. It was incredibly traumatic, and so Putin was brought in. When he first appeared there was this great relief, I think, for a lot of Russians because he was a guy who a) didn't drink, and b) seemed serious, and he seemed like somebody who was more seriously interested in not doing any more experiments on the country. The Russians kept saying, 'We don't want to be experimented on anymore,' and the American attitude was: 'OK we experimented on you, and you died on the operating table. Clearly it's your fault. We need a better patient than you.' Certainly by the end of the 1990s democracy was a bad word in Russia. It was just equated with stealing from everybody.</font>" <p>Richard Eskow, "<a href="https://ourfuture.org/20161213/while-democrats-chase-russians-republicans-keep-stealing-elections/amp">While Democrats Chase Russians, Republicans Keep Rigging Elections</a>: <font color=maroon>What does it tell us when leading Democrats are more upset about alleged Russian election-rigging than they are about proven Republican election-rigging? After all, American oligarchs like the Koch Brothers have no more right to undermine our democracy than Russian oligarchs do.</font>" <p>Jonathan Cohn reviews <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2471801354"><em>Fear City: New York's Fiscal Crisis and the Rise of Austerity Politics</em></a> [...] <font color=maroon><em>Fear City</em> focuses on New York City's 1973 financial crisis, the result of which was a steep retrenchment of city government -- which no longer provided the robust public services that it had by mid-century. As Phillips-Fein observes, contrary to the neoliberal mantra of "there is no alternative," there were many alternatives at every step of the way leading to New York's near-bankruptcy. Many of the roots of the crisis were out of New York City's hands, instead the results of federal policies that incentivized out-migration into suburbia and state policies that hamstrung the city's ability to raise tax revenue.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://eand.co/how-american-economics-is-ruining-your-life-d66bcb4bac45">How American Economics is Ruining Your Life</a> [...] <font color=maroon> It's almost impossible to overstate just how uniquely bad American life is &mdash; school shootings, medical bankruptcies, young people trying to crowdfund insulin, skyrocketing suicide rates, opioid epidemics, one year olds on trial. These things don't happen anywhere else in the world, really. Not even poor countries. And yet Americans live uniquely wretched and ruined lives not because the hand of fate fell &mdash; but largely because American economics destined them to. </font>" <p>Sam Seder on <em>The Majority Report</em>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyPCal-LwxA">Uncivil Agreement: How Politics Became Our Identity w/ Lilliana Mason - MR Live - 7/30/18</a> <p>Bill Black Interview, <a href="https://youtu.be/_Xft_HtU4Ss">The Truth About the 2008 Financial Meltdown and How it Contributed to Trump's Rise (Pt 1/2)</a> and <a href="https://youtu.be/lTY9ia68-9s">(Pt 2/2)</a> <p>You know, it really does seem like <a href="https://medium.com/@Tim_Canova/debbie-wasserman-schultz-has-a-sweet-tooth-and-its-no-laughing-matter-ce1bc4be79d6">Debbie Wasserman Schultz is bad for Florida</a>. She's not bringing home the bacon for the state and she's even refusing to spend money the voters made available to clean up the local environment. You just might think she's corrupt. <p>"<a href="https://eu.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2018/07/18/25-foot-statue-jeff-goldblum-london-celebrates-jurassic-park/796609002/">London erects 25-foot Jeff Goldblum statue to commemorate 'Jurassic Park's 25th anniversary</a>: <font color=maroon>They were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they <em>should</em> build a 25-foot replica of Jeff Goldblum.</font>" <p>I can't remember if I've linked this before, but it just made me feel better so I'm linking it anyway: "<a href="https://youtu.be/M1F0lBnsnkE">Old Movie Stars Dance to Uptown Funk</a>" <p>Face Vocal Band, "<a href="https://peterhollens.com/legendary-vocals/six-men-bring-to-life-celtic-drinking-song/">The Parting Glass</a>" <p>"<a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/07/29/632255604/boz-scaggs-processes-the-past-and-rebuilds-for-the-future">Boz Scaggs Processes The Past And Rebuilds For The Future</a> [...] <font color=maroon>Out of the Blues includes covers of songs by Bobby "Blue" Bland, Jimmy Reed and Samuel "Magic Sam" Maghett, as well as a cover of Neil Young's "On the Beach." The Young song deals with loss and despair, which Scaggs faced directly when his house and all its contents burned in the Napa, Calif., wildfires last year. "It simply all is gone," he says. "It has you reaching for all sorts of answers and conclusions and ways to take it in."</font>" <p>Steve Miller Band/Boz Scaggs, "<a href="https://youtu.be/OEAM9t2WtE4">Baby's Calling Me Home</a>"Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-84943299462721674252018-07-21T15:45:00.001+01:002018-07-21T15:45:38.788+01:00The only time I feel all right is by your side<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FitmnYAP8QI/W1NHARiAkDI/AAAAAAAAB4k/QNJYwBzI9OQHMji_EOPVyzqsuVbUV4GFACLcBGAs/s1600/EnglishCountryside.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FitmnYAP8QI/W1NHARiAkDI/AAAAAAAAB4k/QNJYwBzI9OQHMji_EOPVyzqsuVbUV4GFACLcBGAs/s320/EnglishCountryside.jpg" width="241" height="320" data-original-width="481" data-original-height="640" /></a></div> <p>Bernie Sanders held a <a href="https://youtu.be/2v1lBkqE5Pg">CEOs vs Workers Town Hall</a>. Donut Twitter<a title="https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/d338qj/corncob-donut-binch-a-guide-to-weird-leftist-internet-slang"><font color=magenta>*</font></a> went insane with tweets to the effect of, "How dare he talk about unimportant stuff like this when Trump had a lousy press conference in Russia!" <p>"<a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/how-to-survive-americas-kill-list-699334/">How to Survive America's Kill List</a>: <font color=maroon>When a U.S. citizen heard he was on his own country's drone target list, he wasn't sure he believed it. After five near-misses, he does &mdash; and is suing the United States to contest his own execution.</font>" There's an irony here. This guy spent a couple of hours trying to explain that "democracy" in America has nothing to do with policy, that Americans have little or no input into what an administration might actually do, that a majority of Americans are <em>not</em> necessarily in favor of droning Muslim weddings. The person he was explaining it to was an Al Queda leader, and that "association" is very possibly why this American citizen is being targeted for murder by our government. <p>"<a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/07/charges-dropped-against-all-j20-inauguration-day-protestors.html">Charges Dropped Against Remaining J20 Inauguration Day Protesters</a>: <font color=maroon>Federal prosecutors dropped all charges against the 38 remaining defendants arrested and charged with rioting during the Disrupt J20 protests on Donald Trump's Inauguration Day. The dismissal brings an end to the nearly 18-month saga that saw 234 protesters threatened with as much as 60 years in prison for their alleged roles in the destruction of property on January 20, 2017.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2018/07/att-promised-lower-prices-after-time-warner-merger-its-raising-them-instead/">AT&amp;T promised lower prices after Time Warner merger &mdash; it's raising them instead</a>: <font color=maroon>AT&amp;T is raising the base price of its DirecTV Now streaming service by $5 per month, despite promising in court that its acquisition of Time Warner Inc. would lower TV prices.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Just two months ago, AT&amp;T said in a court filing that buying Time Warner would allow it to lower TV prices. The US Department of Justice tried to stop the merger, arguing that it would raise prices for consumers, but a federal judge sided with AT&amp;T. The merger was completed on June 15. AT&amp;T scoffed at the Justice Department's argument that the merger would raise prices. The telecomm giant wrote in its post-trial brief that the merger will 'enabl[e] AT&T and Time Warner to reduce consumer prices.'</font>" <p>"<a href="https://eu.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2018/06/29/federal-judge-dismisses-suit-over-literacy-rights/747738002/">Federal judge dismisses suit over literacy rights in Detroit</a>: <font color=maroon>A federal judge has dismissed an unprecedented civil lawsuit filed on behalf of Detroit students fighting to establish literacy is a U.S. constitutional right. In the suit filed in 2016 through a California public interest law firm, the youths alleged the conditions of their schools are so poor and inadequate they had not received the best education and were denied access to literacy on account of their races, violating their rights under the due process and equal protection clauses of the 14th Amendment. But attorneys for Gov. Rick Snyder and state education officials have said no fundamental right to literacy exists for Detroit schoolchildren. The lawyers had asked the judge to reject what they have called an 'attempt to destroy the American tradition of democratic control of schools.'</font>" This is unpardonable, Rick Snyder should be arrested for fraud against taxpayers, and judges like this should be locked in a room and forced to read the Preamble over and over until they understand what "promote the general Welfare" means. <p>"<a href="https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/07/08/health/world-health-breastfeeding-ecuador-trump.html">U.S. Opposition to Breast-Feeding Resolution Stuns World Health Officials</a>: <font color=maroon>A resolution to encourage breast-feeding was expected to be approved quickly and easily by the hundreds of government delegates who gathered this spring in Geneva for the United Nations-affiliated World Health Assembly. Based on decades of research, the resolution says that mother's milk is healthiest for children and countries should strive to limit the inaccurate or misleading marketing of breast milk substitutes. Then the United States delegation, embracing the interests of infant formula manufacturers, upended the deliberations.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/07/ethiopia-eritrea-sign-declaration-peace-friendship-180709101214478.html">Ethiopia and Eritrea declare war 'has come to an end'</a>: <font color=maroon>Leaders of Horn of Africa nations sign joint peace agreement, officially ending decades of diplomatic and armed strife.</font>" <p>Israel officially becomes a a racist, apartheid theocracy: "<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israel-passes-controversial-nation-state-bill-1.6291048">Israel Passes Controversial Jewish Nation-state Bill After Stormy Debate</a>: <font color=maroon>62 lawmakers vote in favor of the bill after a stormy debate ¦ Arab lawmakers tossed out after they tear bill in protest, call it 'apartheid law'</font>." <p>"<a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/bill-melinda-gates-foundation-education-initiative-failure-2018-6">A $1 billion Gates Foundation-backed education initiative failed to help students, according to a new report &mdash; here's what happened</a>: [...] <font color=maroon>The initiative, called the Intensive Partnerships for Effective Teaching, didn't improve student graduation rates or schools' ability to retain effective teachers.</font>" What really happened is that two people who thought because they were rich they were also "smart" on issues they knew nothing about could just inject themselves and their money into a vital area and, as a result, helped to completely wreck our educational system. They were not educators and had no reason at all to think they knew more than experienced teachers knew, but they just jumped right in and gave the whole charter school movement the boost it needed to be saleable to people who were unwise enough to think that there is any better way to get good student outcomes than to have experienced teachers who are rewarded <em>with a living wage and pension</em> teaching those students. Experience, you see, is the best teacher. <p>"<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/07/15/barbara-lee-ro-khanna-says-hell-rally-support-for-barbara-lee-if-she-makes-bid-for-democratic-leadership/">Ro Khanna Says He'Ll Rally Support For Barbara Lee If She Makes Bid For Democratic Leadership</a>: <font color=maroon>REP. RO KHANNA plans to throw his full weight behind Barbara Lee, his fellow representative from California, if she makes a final decision to run for caucus chair, a leadership position being vacated by New York's Rep. Joe Crowley. </font>" <p>"<a href="http://daviddayen.tumblr.com/post/175902659586/california-democratic-party-snubs-feinstein">California Democratic Party Snubs Feinstein, Endorses de León in Senate Race</a>: <font color=maroon>Longtime California Senator Dianne Feinstein lost the California Democratic Party's endorsement, in a stunning vote Saturday night at the party's executive board meeting in Oakland. Though the vote was expected to be close, state Senator Kevin de León rather easily crossed the 60 percent threshold necessary for endorsement.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/07/13/proposition-8-california-democratic-party/">The Dialysis Industry Is Putting Profits Over Patients. A California Democratic Party Official Is Quietly Helping Them</a>: <font color=maroon>EARLIER THIS WEEK, the California Democratic Party announced that it would no longer accept contributions from the private prison industry, and that it would donate the $160,000 it received from the top two prison operators &mdash; GEO Group and CoreCivic &mdash; to organizations that assist immigrants and ex-offenders. It was a heartening reversal of pay-to-play politics, made possible by an organized activist movement capitalizing on financial disclosure. But pay-to-play still has a role within the party. According to financial statements, party vice chair Alex Gallardo-Rooker received $30,000 in the first quarter of this year from opponents of a controversial ballot measure that would cap patient payments at outpatient dialysis facilities. She waited several weeks to make a written disclosure of this relationship, contravening the party bylaws. And critics claim that she continues to stay quiet about her role as a paid consultant, even while attempting to persuade party members to oppose the initiative. It's unclear whether Gallardo-Rooker continued receiving payments after March; second-quarter financial statements have not yet been released.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://theslot.jezebel.com/alexandria-ocasio-cortezs-democratic-primary-opponent-w-1827540576">Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Democratic Primary Opponent Will Remain on the Ballot Because of Some Bullshit</a> [...] <font color=maroon>If you are wondering why in the fuck this is happening, you can thank New York's byzantine election laws and the stubbornness of bad men. As the New York Times explains, Crowley received the endorsement of the Working Families Party, a group of labor unions and activists that has also backed New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's primary challenger, Cynthia Nixon. But after Ocasio-Cortez's primary win, Bill Lipton, the state director of the Working Families Party, reached out to Crowley's team and asked that he vacate the line. Crowley, however, declined. This means he'll remain on the ballot, which is certainly a curious decision to make!</font>" <p>Pareen, "<a href="https://splinternews.com/haim-saban-is-bad-for-democracy-1827319779">Haim Saban Is Bad For Democracy</a>: <font color=maroon>Last month, twelve Democratic senators signed a letter from the office of Sen. Bernie Sanders to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, asking the Trump administration 'to do more to alleviate the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.' The letter was sent following a series of protests by Gazans that were met with overwhelming, deadly force by Israel, which has had Gaza under a punishing blockade for more than a decade.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>In response, Haim Saban, a billionaire media mogul and longtime 'megadonor' to the Democratic Party, wrote a pissy email to each of those senators (sent to some of their personal addresses, probably just to make the point that he had their personal email addresses), listing, in syntax and tone typical of conservative chain emails, various reasons why Israel's treatment of Palestinians, and Gazans in particular, must never, ever be criticized. It doesn't even address the actual issues and concerns laid out in the letter to Pompeo; it is merely a collection of braindead talking points.</font>" <p>I'm not sure I can quite unpack all of this, but Marcy Wheeler is "<a href="https://www.emptywheel.net/2018/07/03/putting-a-face-mine-to-the-risks-posed-by-gop-games-on-mueller-investigation/">Putting A Face (Mine) To The Risks Posed By GOP Games On Mueller Investigation</a> [...] <font color=maroon>I'm making this public now because a David Ignatius report Thursday maps out an imminent deal with Russia and Israel that sounds like what was described to me within hours of the election. This deal appears to be the culmination of an effort that those involved in the Russian attack worked to implement within hours after the election.</font>" She talked with Sam Seder about this on <a href="https://youtu.be/klEe6ryBXbc"><em>The Majority Report</em></a>. <p>Zaid Jilani at <em>The Intercept</em>, "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/07/11/shri-thanedar-michigan-single-payer-health-care/">Health Care Blunder Reveals Michigan Candidate For Governor's 'Progressive' Branding Is False Advertising</a>." There are three people in this race &mdash; one who seems to be the genuine article, one who looks like a guy with too much money who is pandering as a "progressive", and one who is the corporate-backed establishment candidate (and is in the lead because the progressive vote is being split). <p>Libby Watson at <em>Splinter</em>, "<a href="https://splinternews.com/tim-geithner-is-living-his-best-post-obama-life-by-runn-1827285288">Tim Geithner Is Living His Best Post-Obama Life by Running Scam to Bleed Poor People Dry</a>: <font color=maroon>Sorry if you had anyone else winning in your Most Hideous Career After Leaving the Obama Administration bracket, because Tim Geithner just blew the competition out the water. The Washington Post has a detailed and devastating report, published Sunday evening, about the predatory lending activities of Mariner Finance, a company 'owned and managed by a $11.2 billion private equity fund controlled by Warburg Pincus,' of which Geithner is president. Cool job, Tim!</font>" <p>Briahna Gray, also commenting on the Abrams-Evans race in Georgia, says, "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/06/18/2020-presidential-election-democratic-party/">Fetishizing 'Identity Politics' Could Cost Democrats In 2020</a> [...] <font color=maroon>IT'S NECESSARY, HERE, to define 'identity politics,' since a failure to do so is at the root of most of the controversy around the subject. Critics on the right generally define identity politics as any reference to racial, sexual, or gender identities, whether as calls to solidarity or a recognition of the particular harms those groups face because of their identities. This is wrong. But critics from the left don't generally question the political or cultural relevance of identities, or the extent to which they serve as important axes for political mobilization. Instead, the leftist critique condemns the 'weaponization' of identity &mdash; the cynical emphasis on personal identity over political beliefs in order to advance candidates whose interests are inapposite to the needs of the groups they're presumed to represent. See, for example, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders's claim that Democrats who 'support women's empowerment' but critique Gina Haspel's nomination for CIA director are 'hypocrite[s].' Or the idea that Kamala Harris, a former prosecutor who once criminalized truancy and oversaw the country's second largest non-federal prison population as the attorney general of California, is necessarily a good standard bearer for political justice reform.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/07/the-rhode-island-democratic-party-may-have-endorsed-a-trump-supporter.html">Why Did the Rhode Island Democratic Party Endorse an Alt-Right Supporter Over a Progressive Incumbent?</a> <font color=maroon>Walsh has since been a progressive voice in the legislature and supports increasing the minimum wage and marijuana legalization. She also caused a stir in March when she said in a radio interview that there was an 'insane amount of drinking' among legislators at the statehouse. All this might go some way towards explaining why the state Democratic Party has endorsed her opponent in the upcoming primaries &mdash; a man who appears to have once been a vocal supporter of Donald Trump and alt-right figures.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/vbqwwj/patreon-suspension-of-adult-content-creators">Patreon Is Suspending Adult Content Creators Because of Its Payment Partners</a>: <font color=maroon>The subscription crowdfunding platform Patreon confirmed that they are increasing efforts to review content, due to payment processor pressure.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>'This is bigger than us & Patreon. It's a world wide crack down on freedom of expression, on women, on marginalised people, on sex and sex work, on non conventional forms of labour that counter the status quo: the domination of corporations and patriarchy. On dissent,' Ashley wrote. 'Just to be clear what is at stake, this is my whole income, my livelihood.'</font>" <p><a href="https://www.themarysue.com/second-civil-war-conspiracy-theory/">Alex Jones discovered the left's plans to start a second civil war on July 4th</a>. Hilarity ensues. <p>Matt Taibbi at <em>Rolling Stone</em>, "<a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/financial-transactions-tax-695000/">We Need a Financial Transactions Tax Before It's Too Late</a>: <font color=maroon>As the country sits atop a giant debt-bomb, measures are needed to rein in excess speculation</font>" <p>Ryan Cooper in <em>The Week</em>, "<a href="http://theweek.com/articles/783356/how-capitalist-class-strangling-american-economy">How the capitalist class is strangling the American economy</a> [...] <font color=maroon>Why the capitalist class does this is something of a mystery. Don't they love growth? Well, they do, but only under the right circumstances. They present themselves as concerned with growth, productivity, and output above all else, but it turns out they are in reality a lot more concerned with high profits and a politically quiescent working class. A big economic boom is fine, but a tight labor market requiring wage increases that come out of the capitalist share of the corporate surplus &mdash; or worse, workers confident that they can get another job organizing union drives &mdash; is horrifying to them. Our capitalist overlords think they deserve easy profits and beaten-down workers who will take crappy wages and bad benefits without a peep or protests, and mobilize politically to rig the economy to make that happen.</font>" <p>Also Ryan Cooper, "<a href="http://theweek.com/articles/785717/new-republican-gilded-age">The new Republican Gilded Age</a> [...] <font color=maroon>The basic idea is to reconfigure the American state to serve only the interests of business: forbidding as much regulation of industry as possible, and using violent state power to suppress the inevitable backlash from the rest of society. America once had much of its democratic nature cored out by rapacious capitalists. It could happen again.</font>" <p>"<a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/07/yes-normal-republican-elites-are-a-threat-to-democracy.html">Yes, Normal Republican Elites Are a Threat to Democracy</a> [...] <font color=maroon>In its mission to undermine popular government &mdash; so as to insulate the policy preferences of reactionary elites from majoritarian opinion &mdash; elected Republicans have received the indispensable aid of normal conservative jurists like Brett Kavanaugh. Over the past decade, the Roberts court has worked to systematically increase the influence that concentrated wealth can exert over American politics, while vetoing democratically enacted attempts to either constrain that influence, or else to buck the substantive preferences of the Republican donor class. The court's efforts on this front include abolishing virtually all restrictions on corporate spending in American elections; overturning an Arizona law that attempted to counter such spending by providing candidates with public funds; legalizing most forms of political bribery; and gutting anti-trust law. In sum: The modern Republican Party has demonstrated a commitment to suppressing voter participation; reducing the influence of majorities over electoral outcomes; and subordinating the policy preferences of its own constituents to those of reactionary elites. It has further demonstrated a willingness to achieve the latter end by lying to its own base about its intentions for public policy; obfuscating the policy-making process to limit public awareness of the government's activities; appointing activist judges who will veto democratically enacted legislation on dubious grounds; and stoking the most incendiary cultural divisions in American life.</font> <p>"<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/democrats-ignore-left-their-peril-midwesterners-aren-t-scared-socialism-ncna889741">Democrats ignore the left at their peril. Midwesterners aren't scared of socialism &mdash; they're hungry for it.</a> <font color=maroon>Some members of the Democratic establishment argue that bold, left-wing platforms can't win elections. They're wrong.</font>" <p>Hamilton Nolan at <em>Splinter</em>, "<a href="https://splinternews.com/this-is-just-the-beginning-1827099100">This Is Just the Beginning</a>: <font color=maroon>Do you think that being asked to leave a restaurant, or having your meal interrupted, or being called by the public is bad? My fascism-enabling friends, this is only the beginning. One thing that people who wield great power often fail to viscerally understand is what it feels like to have power wielded against you. This imbalance is the source of many of the most monstrous decisions that get made by powerful people and institutions.</font>" I like this approach even though I disagree that they don't understand how it feels. I think they <em>love</em> knowing they can make you feel that way and you can't do anything about it. What they underestimate is that even in this society, you can still damage those people if you really come to believe you have nothing to lose. <p>From Tom Scocca at <em>Gawker</em>, an interesting essay <a href="http://gawker.com/on-smarm-1476594977">On Smarm</a> [...] <font color=maroon>But why are nastiness and snideness taken to be features of our age? One general point of agreement, in denunciations of snark, is that snark is reactive. It is a kind of response. Yet to what is it responding? Of what is it contemptuous? Stand against snark, and you are standing with everything decent. And who doesn't want to be decent? The snarkers don't, it seems. Or at least they (let's be honest: we) don't want to be decent on those terms.</font>" <p>Here's an interesting development: "<a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/04/25/602326027/tea-party-liberal-promises-to-bring-a-blue-wave-to-west-virginia?t=1530545368790">'Tea Party Liberal' Promises To Bring A Blue Wave To West Virginia</a>: <font color=maroon>Richard Ojeda joined the Army because he says it seemed like the most reasonable choice he had growing up; his alternative options, he says, were to 'dig coal' or 'sell dope.' So he chose the Army, where he spent more than two decades. But when he came home to Logan County, W.Va., he was stunned. "I come home from spending 24 years in the United States Army and I realize I got kids in my backyard that have it worse than the kids I saw in Iraq and Afghanistan," he shouts into the microphone during an interview.</font>" <p>My favorite 4th of July moment, of course, was <a href="https://youtu.be/Yu0CncrKMW0">Therese Okoumou climbing the base of the Statue of Liberty</a> to demand that immigrant children be reuinted with their parents. The police, of course, "rescued" her with a choke-hold, but hey, that's freedom in America. I mean, she's black, whaddaya expect? <p>I reckon the best take came on <em>The Michael Brooks Show</em> when Matt Taibbi came in to talk about <a href="https://youtu.be/havNIHtLbnE">Centrism Isn't Sexy &amp; Are Russian Spies Among Us?</a>. But I don't know what all the "unprecedented" stuff is about - it's hardly as if <a href="http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2018/07/elite-impunity-nixon-trump">we haven't seen this before</a>. <br> Taibbi's article referred to in the show is <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/center-is-not-sexy-698699/">here</a>.) <br>Also on TMBS: <br><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyNVTMgAX7g">TMBS - 43 - How Not To Do Identity Politics ft. Asad Haider & Alyona Minkovski</a><br><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpzjWZVCPeU">TMBS - 47 - SCOTUS v. Democracy &amp; What Beats Fascism ft. Harvey Kaye</a> <p>On <em>Majority Report</em>: <br><a href="https://youtu.be/GYyEinpOSbs">The Kurds Anarchist Liberation Struggle w/ David Graeber - MR Live - 7/9/18</a><br><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbywEwN6xGg">Our New Restoration Story w/ George Monbiot - MR Live - 7/3/18</a><br><a href="https://youtu.be/MqPYfeGVatc">Casual Friday w/ Nomiki Konst - MR Live - 6/29/18</a><br><a href="https://youtu.be/hnvGFNxebUc">How Jesse Helms Invented the Republican Party w/ Nick Martin - MR Live - 7/19/18</a> <p>Putting this here as a reminder: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqD2av9L9M-AhXQhQE6JnjQ">Yvette Carnell - Breaking Brown</a> <p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDHE-G-RDoI&feature=share">Seymour Hersh on who controls the news agenda around Donald Trump</a> <p>RIP: "<a href="https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/ed-schultz-dies-64-1202865755/"><b>Ed Schultz</b>, Former MSNBC Host, Dies at 64</a>." I had my problems with this guy, but he didn't like being pushed into being partisan-no-matter-what, and I gotta respect that. Here's an interesting interview he did with a guy from <em>The National Review</em> in which he talks about how <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/podcasts/the-jamie-weinstein-show/episode-55-ed-shultz/">MSNBC wouldn't let him cover Bernie Sanders</a> and why he prefers working for RT America. <p>It's always good to remember that Tim Geithner should take much responsibility as the architect of our current woes. He wrote an autobiographical book to "explain" how he, in indifferent student who grew up entirely ordinary just happened to become the hero of the 2007 financial crisis, and, as Matt Stoller noted, nothing about that story rings true. <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/xd5vz4/tim-geithner-and-the-con-artist-wing-of-the-democratic-party">The Con-Artist Wing of the Democratic Party</a>: <font color=maroon>The most consequential event of this young century has been the financial crisis. But is the party of Obama ready to come to terms with its own role in the disaster?</font> [...] <font color=maroon>You see the same rhetorical tricks and traps as we move to Geithner's tenure as president of the New York Federal Reserve, which began in 2003. Much of the discussion of Geithner's book and his time in office is essentially a rehash of the strategies pursued during the bailouts. As with the hot money flows, Geithner pretends he was part of the solution, not the cause of the problem. But Geithner also played a huge role in the run-up of leverage in the financial system, a role he lies about when discussing his time at the Fed. Geithner served at the New York Fed until 2008, and this region was the center of the financial universe, the place where profits from the boom were husbanded and collected. The New York Fed regulated Citigroup, a massive systemic risk requiring multiple bailouts and obscure financial supporting arrangements. Thus, lying about his tolerance for this run-up in leverage, and about his distance from the financial industry, is critical in painting a later portrait of a cautious but savvy crisis manager.</font>" Countries that took Geithner's advice did poorly, and those who ignored it did just fine. And then Obama put him in charge of <em>our</em> economy. <p>David Dayen's "<a href="https://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/hsbc-sexual-harassment-hr/">Inhuman Resources</a>" at <em>The Huffington Post</em> is a harrowing tale of a decent guy on Wall Street who tried to help a colleague who was the victim of harassment and became one himself, but I'd personally like to slap whoever coded the page so that it flutters around when you page to the next section. I hate these sliding sections and giant illustrations all over the place. Someone should make it stop. <p>Mark Evanier has <a href="https://www.newsfromme.com/2018/06/30/a-harlan-ellison-story/">A Harlan Ellison story</a> and promises more. By actual count, there are 8,448,329 anecdotes about Harlan Ellison, 7,609,224 of which are actually true. This is one that fits into both categories and it involves a man named Julius Schwartz who was an important editor for DC Comics and a semi-important figure in the science-fiction community. Julie and Harlan had an extremely close relationship that some would describe as "father-son." Some would also tell you that at times, Julie &mdash; though he was nineteen years older than Harlan &mdash; was in the "son" role. Most of the time though, Julie was the obstreperous adult and Harlan, the even-more-obstreperous child. Every Wednesday morning for a very long time, Julie (in the DC offices in New York) would phone Harlan (in his home in Southern California) and they'd talk about anything and everything. One day around 1971, the topic somehow ventured to the notion of Harlan, who had done very little writing for comic books, writing a Batman story. Julie Schwartz was the editor of Batman and Detective Comics at the time. Harlan did not want to do it with any sort of deadline but he said he would come up with something in the near future. <font color=maroon></font>" <p>Badass: <a href="http://www.badassoftheweek.com/fields.html">Stagecoach Mary Fields</a>: <font color=maroon>Up until her death in 1914 at the age of 82, Old West badass "Stagecoach" Mary Fields had a standing bet at her local saloon: Five bucks and a glass of whiskey said she could knock out any cowboy in Cascade, Montana with a single punch.</font>" <p>Um, "<a href="https://deadline.com/2018/07/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-series-reboot-in-works-black-lead-monica-owusu-breen-joss-whedon-1202430592/">'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' Series Reboot With Black Lead In Works From Monica Owusu-Breen &amp; Joss Whedon</a>." I have real problems with the idea of a black woman being named "Buffy". <p>It's amazing what you can find by accident on the intertubes. Here's <a href="https://youtu.be/82XPhBufR4A">Peter Tatchell and me on <em>The James Whale Show</em></a> talking about the gay age of consent back when we were trying to get it changed. (Our bit starts about halfway through.) Alas, they cut out some of my favorite lines. <p>"<a href="http://www.hennemusic.com/2018/07/the-kinks-to-reunite-after-two-decades.html">The Kinks to reunite after two decades apart</a>" Ray Davies confirms that he's been working on a new album with Dave. <p>The Kinks, "<a href="https://youtu.be/F4DV-5d6a5g">All Day and All of the Night</a>", live.Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-18778456253630671612018-07-02T21:46:00.001+01:002018-07-03T23:28:38.928+01:00Not working just to survive<img src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DgQC4fJMA04/WzqMX1PvucI/AAAAAAAAB4U/e_Hxp_VkoYwdS7KggwOWjibTJZyAI_ohACLcBGAs/s1600/HarlanRIP.JPG" width=371 height=333 align=left hspace=15 vspace=5 title="Harlan"> <p>See, here's what happens: I start thinking I'd better hurry up and upload this latest post I'm working on, and if I can just get that last link on the primaries I can post, and then Sam Seder says <a href="https://youtu.be/bf4LnWigtJE">Anthony Kennedy has just announced his retirement</a>, and I'm, "Oh, no," and then I think, okay, just that one more, and then Roz sends me her latest poem and I see the first line and I'm, blinking at the screen and "What? Harlan died?" Okay, we all know there were troublesome things about him, though I have to say he was always nice to me, but I'd seen him be not so nice, too. I think Cory said it best for me about <a href="https://boingboing.net/2018/06/28/rip-harlan-ellison.html">all that ambivalent feeling</a> he provoked, but my eyes still got wet. He was a lot of things, and he stood up for civil rights and women's rights, and sometimes he wasn't the best person he could be, you bet - and as with everything else, he did that big and public, too. But you can check out <a href="https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/harlan-ellison-dead-dies-star-trek-1202861048/"><em>Variety</em></a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jun/28/harlan-ellison-death-science-fiction-star-trek"><em>Guardian</em></a>, and I see <em>File770</em> has <a href="http://file770.com/harlan-ellison-tribute-roundup/">a whole bunch more</a>. Oh, and <a href="https://www.newsfromme.com/2018/06/28/harlan-ellison-r-i-p/">Mark Evanier</a>, of course. <p>And then there was that <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-44654077">shooting at the <em>Capital Gazette</em></a>, and as if I didn't feel shell-shocked enough, half the links I tried to grab tell me they are suddenly no longer available in Europe. <p>That <em>Majority Report</em> link has a lot of material about the NY primary before the sudden interruption by Kennedy's retirement announcement, including Joe Crowley's concession featuring his surprisingly good performance of "Born to Run". And Thursday's show was on <a href="https://youtu.be/dfnseRx5odo">SCOTUS Apocalypse &amp; Organizing Post-Janus w/ Ian Millhiser & Jane McAlevey</a>. <p>Most of the media seemed not to have heard of her before she won the primary, and gave her no coverage, but one exception was <em>The Intercept</em>, which, among other things, did <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/06/12/watch-glenn-greenwald-interviews-democratic-primary-challenger-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-of-new-york/">this interview with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez</a>, which gives you a good sense of the candidate. (At one point she tweeted some photos under her caption, "A girl has no name," with headlines from newspapers that announced Joe Crowley's loss to a "challenger" without even using her name. Joy Reid actually tweeted that she - and most of her colleagues - were having to do remedial study of who she was. And then the alt-center all ran to the media to explain why this win doesn't mean anything. Tammy Duckworth even claimed that AO-C was fine for the Bronx but her priorities couldn't win in the midwest - that'd be the same midwest that voted for Bernie but not for Hillary.) <p>While I was waiting for the polls to close, I read, "<a href="https://medium.com/@ericwimer/97-7f8186faf35f">97%:Why Incumbents Are So Hard to Defeat, and What It Means That a Working Class Latina Candidate Might Just Do It to One of the Most Powerful Political Bosses in the Country</a>: <font color=maroon>In my time working and volunteering for political campaigns, I learned why 97% of incumbent politicians won re-election in 2016. I want to go into this phenomenon, noting every advantage incumbent candidates have, at least the ones that I've noticed, to underscore how dramatic the odds that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is facing are, and how historic a win by her would be. The support she's gotten is already close to unheard of.</font>" In New York they make it especially hard, by the way - you have to come back to vote for your nominee for governor separately, <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/New_York_gubernatorial_election,_2018_(September_13_Democratic_primary)">in September</a>, - so no coat-tails, either. <p>Later: <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/6/26/17506970/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-joe-crowley-primary-new-york">She wiped the floor with him</a>. "<font color=maroon>Rep. Joe Crowley, one of the top Democrats in the House of Representatives, lost his New York primary in a shocking upset on Tuesday night to community organizer Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Crowley, having fundraised nearly $3 million for the race in New York's 14th District, fell easily to a first-time candidate with a viral introduction video, a Democratic Socialists of America membership card, and a proudly leftist agenda. She ran on Medicare-for-all, a federal jobs guarantee, and getting tough on Wall Street. The race was called just before 10 pm for Ocasio-Cortez.</font>" Looks like 58%-42%. I'm going to bed, too sleepy to post. <p>Meanwhile, in another race we were watching, Emily Sirota won Colorado's 9th District, 54.29%-45.71, but I can't find a story to link to yet. Well, I saw some headlines that wouldn't let me in, so <a href="http://www.westword.com/news/colorado-primary-election-results-update-2018-10475451">this is the best I can do</a>. <p>Also, "<a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/6/26/17503948/maryland-governor-primary-results-ben-jealous">Maryland could elect its first African-American governor this fall</a>: <font color=maroon>Democrats nominated Ben Jealous in their primary on Tuesday.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Despite being a first-time political candidate, Jealous dominated a crowded fight for the Democratic nomination, triumphing over a wide range of political veterans including a former adviser to Hillary Clinton and a Maryland state senator. Polls had Jealous and Baker in close range of one another ahead of Tuesday's election.</font>" <p><center><font color=magenta>* * * * *</font></center><p><p>Eric Levitz in <em>New York Magazine</em>, "<a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/06/in-hindsight-obama-shouldnt-have-appointed-merrick-garland.html">In Hindsight, Democrats Really Mishandled That Merrick Garland Thing</a> [...] <font color=maroon>But one can also sprinkle a scintilla of blame on whoever convinced the last Democratic administration to nominate a middle-aged, white male centrist to the Supreme Court &mdash; and to then argue for his confirmation on grounds of procedural norms, rather than ideological goals.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>In hindsight, it's hard to argue that Democrats did everything in their power to increase the salience of such questions. For example, imagine if Barack Obama had nominated the first African-American woman to the Supreme Court &mdash; one who was young, and unabashedly progressive in her jurisprudence. When McConnell subsequently vetoed her appointment &mdash; and thereby nullified Obama's attempt to give a modicum of representation in the halls of high power to the Democratic Party's most loyal constituency &mdash; wouldn't it have been easier to mobilize the Democratic base in outrage, than it was to rally them behind Merrick Garland?</font>" <p>"<a href="https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/nekxbw/supreme-court-janus-v-afscme-decision-may-have-just-killed-unions">The Supreme Court may have just killed public unions</a>: <font color=maroon>The case, Janus v. AFSCME, dealt with the fees that public unions can collect from non-members. In a 5-4 decision, the justices ruled that people who aren't union members but are represented by a public union cannot be forced to pay fees because fees violate their freedom of speech. Instead, union dues must be opt-in only.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/06/25/severe-blow-voting-rights-supreme-court-preserves-gop-gerrymanders-texas-and-north?utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=socialnetwork">In 'Severe Blow' to Voting Rights, Supreme Court Preserves GOP Gerrymanders in Texas and North Carolina</a>: <font color=maroon>In a victory for "GOP racial gerrymanders everywhere" and a significant loss for voting rights, the Supreme Court's conservative majority on Monday overturned a lower court ruling and revived electoral districts drawn by Texas Republicans that many experts say are blatantly designed to discriminate against minorities. Compounding what has already been a rough several days for activists and legal experts working to combat gerrymandering nationwide, the Supreme Court also decided to send a major North Carolina partisan gerrymandering case back to a lower court, leaving intact congressional maps that rights groups argue were drawn to discriminate against Democratic voters.</font>" <p>This should scare you: "<a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/06/14/younger-generations-make-up-a-majority-of-the-electorate-but-may-not-be-a-majority-of-voters-this-november/">Younger generations make up a majority of the electorate, but may not be a majority of voters this November</a> [...] <font color=maroon>It's difficult to predict who will turn out to vote in the upcoming 2018 midterm. A reasonable scenario might be that eligible voters would turn out as they have, on average, in past midterm elections. Gen Xers and Millennials have consistently underperformed in terms of voter turnout in midterm elections, compared with Boomers when they were the same age. Millennials have had the opportunity to vote in four midterm elections (2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014). Among Millennials who were between the ages of 18 and 24 during these elections, 20% turned out to vote, on average. By comparison, 26% of Boomers in that same age range turned out to vote in midterm elections between 1978 and 1986.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jun/24/democrats-losing-millennial-vote-change-message">Democrats are losing the millennial vote and need to change message</a>: <font color=maroon>Millennials are at best soft Democrats. Many got enthused and mobilized by Barack Obama in 2008 and largely hung around for Obama in 2012 and, even less, Clinton in 2016. But many seem to have had enough. And who could blame them? Clinton's campaign mainly targeted the illusive 'moderate Republican', the white, middle-aged middle class. And since her shock defeat, many prominent Democrats have pivoted towards the cliched 'Trump voter' as defined by the liberal media, ie a middle-aged to older white, working-class male.</font>" <p><center><font color=magenta>* * * * *</font></center><p><p><a href="https://www.publicpolicypolling.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/PPP_Release_National_32718.pdf">Public Policy Polling</a> says that voters like gun control and the DREAM Act, don't want to arm teachers in schools, and don't like the wall. And you'll never guess who the favorite against Trump in the next presidential election is so far... er, yes, you will. <p>Q35 If the candidates for President next time were Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand and Republican <br>Donald Trump, who would you vote for? <br>Kirsten Gillibrand ..............42% <br>Donald Trump ....................40% <br>Not sure ........................18% <p>Q36 If the candidates for President next time were Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump, who would you vote for? <br>Kamala Harris ...................43% <br>Donald Trump ....................39% <br>Not sure ........................18% <p>Q37 If the candidates for President next time were Democrat Bernie Sanders and Republican Donald Trump, who would you vote for? <br>Bernie Sanders ..................55% <br>Donald Trump ....................39% <br>Not sure .........................6% <p>Q38 If the candidates for President next time were Democrat Elizabeth Warren and Republican Donald Trump, who would you vote for? <br>Elizabeth Warren ................51% <br>Donald Trump ...................40% <br>Not sure ........................9% <p><center><font color=magenta>* * * * *</font></center><p> <p>"<a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/cbp-agent-jeffrey-rambo-reporter-travel_us_5b22dc21e4b07cb1712cdc25">Trump Administration Won't Say How A Random CBP Agent Would Know Of A Reporter's Personal Travel</a>: <font color=maroon>The Justice Department says an apparent Customs and Border Protection agent identified as Jeffrey Rambo was not involved in its leak investigation.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>In June 2017, Rambo, whose official role CBP also refuses to explain, contacted national security reporter Ali Watkins, identified himself as a government agent and implied that he could be a source, according to The Washington Post. But when they met, he grilled her about her work and her personal life, noting the dates and locations of international trips she took with James Wolfe, then the director of security for the Senate Intelligence Committee, whom she was dating. Rambo didn't give Watkins his name, but he mentioned that the Trump administration was aggressively investigating journalists and their sources. But Customs and Border Protection is not normally involved in investigations of national security leaks. The Justice Department, which handles such matters, says it didn't ask Rambo for help.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://unac.papillonweb.net/2018/06/20/move-member-debbie-africa-released/">MOVE Member Debbie Africa Released</a>: <font color=maroon>Philadelphia &mdash; In the early morning of June 16, after nearly 40 years of unjust imprisonment by the state of Pennsylvania, political prisoner and MOVE 9 member Debbie Sims Africa was granted parole and released from the State Correctional Institution-Cambridge Springs.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>This Aug. 8 marks the 40th anniversary of the all-out assault by thousands of police on the MOVE house in 1978. When the family still refused to leave their home, police launched an early morning raid, using thousands of rounds of munitions, water cannons and tear gas to destroy the compound and drive the family out. During the raid, Philadelphia Police Officer James P. Ramp was killed by a shot to the back of the head. All MOVE 9 members were convicted of third-degree murder and conspiracy, even though no evidence linked any of them to the shooting. In fact, by immediately razing the entire property, police destroyed any potential evidence that would have helped the MOVE 9 prove their innocence. Police made no efforts to preserve the crime scene or measure for ballistic angles.</font>" <p>Even <em>The American Conservative</em> seems to be to the left of the Democratic Party leadership. "<a href="http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/the-conservative-case-for-universal-healthcare/">The Conservative Case for Universal Healthcare</a>: <font color=maroon>Don't tell anyone, but American conservatives will soon be embracing single-payer healthcare, or some other form of socialized healthcare. Yes, that's a bold claim given that a GOP-controlled Congress and President are poised to un-socialize a great deal of healthcare, and may even pull it off. But within five years, plenty of Republicans will be loudly supporting or quietly assenting to universal Medicare. And that's a good thing, because socializing healthcare is the only demonstrably effective way to control costs and cover everyone. It results in a healthier country and it saves a ton of money.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/russiagates-core-narrative-always-lacked-actual-evidence/">Russiagate's 'Core Narrative' Has Always Lacked Actual Evidence</a>: <font color=maroon>The unprecedented allegation that the Kremlin 'attacked America' and 'colluded' with its president in order to elect him is based on two documents devoid of facts or logic.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Intentionally or not &mdash; one former intelligence officer called it a 'deliberate misrepresentation' &mdash; the ICA, by using the term 'Community,' gave the impression that its findings were the consensus of all '17 US intelligence agencies,' even though it was signed by only three (the CIA, the FBI, and the NSA) and by the overseeing director of national intelligence, James Clapper. This canard was widely deployed by pro-Clinton media and by her campaign until The New York Times belatedly corrected it in June 2017. But even then, anti-Trump forces continue to deploy a deceptive formulation, insisting that the ICA narrative was 'a consensus of the intelligence community.' That was false on two counts. Clapper subsequently admitted he had personally selected for the ICA analysts from the three agencies, but we still do not know who. No doubt these were analysts who would conform to the 'core narrative' of Kremlin-Trump collusion, possibly even one or more of the FBI officials now exposed for their 'bias.' Second, on one crucial finding, the NSA had only 'moderate confidence,' not the 'high confidence' of the CIA and FBI. This has yet to be explained. Still more, the ICA provided almost no facts for its 'assessment.' Remarkably, even the Times, which has long been a leading promoter of the Russiagate narrative, noticed this immediately: 'What is missing,' one of its lead analysts wrote, is 'hard evidence to back up the agencies' claims.' Even more remarkable but little noticed, the ICA authors buried at the end this nullifying disclaimer about their 'assessment': 'Judgments are not intended to imply that we have proof that shows something to be a fact.' What did that mean? Apparently, that after all the damning and ramifying allegations made in the report, the authors had no 'proof' that any of them were a 'fact.'</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.alternet.org/heres-why-hope-blue-wave-november-dangerous-democracy?src=newsletter1093644">Here's Why the Hope of a 'Blue Wave' in November Is Dangerous to Democracy</a> [...] <font color=maroon>Given the uphill climb for congressional representation that Democrats have in front of them (especially for the progressive subset of the party) it's clear that the midterms will largely be decided by the people who find a reason to vote. Pew Research shows Republicans generally have higher turnout than Democrats. Democrats might reconsider any 'we got this' conclusions or talk of blue waves. Overconfidence cost them in 2016, and for democracy's sake, they can't let themselves fall into the same trap.</font>" <p>The "Resistance" &mdash; or "The Assistance", as we call them &mdash; has decided they love them some <a href="https://www.jacobinmag.com/2018/02/adam-schiff-russia-intervention-raytheon-parsons">Adam Schiff</a> as one of their choice alternatives to the evil Bernie Sanders. He is frequently on the list of bright young Dems who should replace the old guard. A virulent Russia conspiracy theorist, there are reasons not to think he's a good choice. "<font color=maroon>Resistance leader? Not really. Democratic congressman Adam Schiff personifies the link between foreign policy hawks and deep-pocketed defense contractors.</font>" <p><em>Haaretz</em>, "<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/editorial/israel-is-gunning-for-its-the-gatekeepers-1.6200224">Israel Is Gunning for Its Gatekeepers</a>" <font color=maroon>A bill that would in effect let cabinet members choose their ministries' legal advisers is part of the coalition's program to eliminate checks on its power.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>The 'selection committee' would exist in name only, a way to whitewash the complete politicization of the position of ministry counsel. In the name of governability, Shaked seeks to eliminate the gatekeeper function of the legal adviser, protecting human and minority rights and fighting corruption and damage to proper public administration.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/two-months-unrest-nicaragua-fateful-crossroad/">After 2 Months of Unrest, Nicaragua Is at a Fateful Crossroads</a> [...] <font color=maroon>How did it begin? Nicaragua has a backstory of violence: the revolutionary struggles of the 1970s against the repressive Somoza dictatorship, followed by the US-financed Contra war against the revolutionary Sandinista government in the 1980s (the US role in that war was condemned by the World Court in 1986 as a violation of international law). Electoral defeat for the Sandinistas in 1990 brought peace, but at the expense of 16 years of corrupt, neoliberal government that undid many of the gains of the revolution. Daniel Ortega's election win in 2006 led to a decade of renewed social investment. Poverty fell by almost half between 2005 and 2016, according to World Bank data, from 48 percent to 25 percent. Nicaragua won praise for its low crime rate, limited drug-related violence, and community-based policing. Nor could the private sector complain: Nicaragua's per-capita GDP increased by 38 percent &mdash; more than for any of its neighbors.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>It seems clear that repression of the initial student demonstration was a grave error of judgment by the police. But there is growing evidence that subsequent events were manipulated so as to magnify discontent. For example, according to a reliable eyewitness, before the ransacking of a supermarket in Managua those doing it were seen to be given Sandinista T-shirts to wear. Burning of buildings is routinely ascribed to Sandinistas, even when it is party officials' houses that are destroyed, or in city streets under the opposition's control. Police in Managua apprehended a known criminal nicknamed 'The Viper' who confessed to plotting with the protesters to carry out armed attacks on shops and FSLN offices. Even the evidence against the police for the shooting at the opposition march on Mother's Day has been called into question, in an open letter to Amnesty International by a former prisoner of conscience. The fact that gunmen are working with the opposition was confirmed by the attempted assassination of Leonel Morales, a student leader who strongly criticized the protesters. On June 12 he was kidnapped, shot, and left for dead in a ditch, an incident at first ignored by the right-wing media, then ascribed to robbery.</font>" <p>REST IN PEACE: "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/22/obituaries/dick-leitsch-dead.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimes"><b>Dick Leitsch</b>, Whose 'Sip-In' Was a Gay Rights Milestone, Dies at 83</a>: <font color=maroon>Dick Leitsch, who in 1966 led a pioneering act of civil disobedience to secure the right of gay patrons to be served in a licensed bar, helping to clear the way for gay bars to operate openly in New York State, died on Friday at a hospice center in Manhattan. He was 83.</font>" <p>ROT IN PERDITION: "<a href="https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2018/06/22/a-lover-of-death-gets-his-wish%E2%80%8A-%E2%80%8Aneocon-charles-krauthammer-dead-at-68/">A Lover Of Death Gets His Wish: Neocon <b>Charles Krauthammer</b> Dead At 68</a>: <font color=maroon>Fox News contributor, Washington Post columnist and neoconservative thought leader Charles Krauthammer has died of cancer, and there is a mad media rush of establishment eulogies scrambling to canonize him as a great man in the eyes of the public before anyone can step back and take stock of what this man's legacy actually is. This is perfectly understandable, because if social consciousness cements into history what a wheelchair full of toxic human waste Krauthammer actually was, it will make things much more difficult for them to manufacture support for their neoconservative wars going forward.</font>" <p>Nathan J. Robinson says in <em>Current Affairs</em>, "<a href="https://www.currentaffairs.org/2018/06/there-is-still-only-one-clear-way-to-get-rid-of-trump">There Is Still Only One Clear Way To Get Rid Of Trump</a>: <font color=maroon>Let's be honest: running Bernie in 2020 is the best shot the Democrats have at beating Trump...</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Needless to say, if your party contains a wildly popular politician, with an enthusiastic fan base of young activists, who is adept at speaking to the concerns of the 'Rust Belt' states that lost you the election the last time around, it would seem criminally foolish not to nominate that person as your presidential candidate.</font>" <p>Umair Haque, "<a href="https://eand.co/do-americans-understand-putting-kids-in-camps-meets-the-definition-of-genocide-60f428d229ff">Do Americans Understand They're Beginning to Commit The Legal Definition of Genocide?</a> <font color=maroon>No, You Don't Know What Genocide (Really) Is. But You Should.</font>" <p>"<a href="http://cepr.net/blogs/beat-the-press/when-both-men-and-women-drop-out-of-the-labor-force-why-do-economists-only-ask-about-men">When Both Men and Women Drop Out of the Labor Force, Why Do Economists Only Ask About Men?</a> <font color=maroon>That's what New York Times readers were wondering when they saw Harvard Economics Professor Greg Mankiw's column, 'Why Aren't Men Working?' The piece notes the falloff in labor force participation among prime-age men (ages 25 to 54) for the last 70 years and throws out a few possible explanations. We'll get to the explanations in a moment, but the biggest problem with explaining the drop in labor force participation among men as a problem with men is that since 2000, there has been a drop in labor force participation among prime-age women also.</font> <p>Interviewed at <em>Truthout</em>, <a href="https://truthout.org/articles/noam-chomsky-on-fascism-showmanship-and-democrats-hypocrisy-in-the-trump-era/">Noam Chomsky on Fascism, Showmanship and Democrats' Hypocrisy in the Trump Era</a>: "<font color=maroon>The coverage has been quite instructive, in part because of the efforts of the Democrats to outflank Trump from the right. Beyond that, the coverage across the spectrum illustrates quite well two distinct kinds of deceit: lying and not telling relevant truths. Each merits comment.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://youtu.be/kpgJzlY9y8A">Mr. Peabody and Sherman Travel WayBack to 1953 - A History of Iraq</a>" <p>A couple of <em>Majority Report</em> episodes really worth listening to: <br>* <a href="https://youtu.be/8k2NMk2somo">American Nightmare: Facing the Challenge of Fascism w/ Dr. Henry Giroux</a><br>* <a href="https://youtu.be/vB_PyZ8Qjak">Mistaken Identity: Race and Class in the Age of Trump w/ Asad Haider</a> <p>Back in March, Ryan Grim wrote about <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/03/21/what-the-dan-lipinski-marie-newman-democratic-primary-in-illinois-means/">What The Dan Lipinski-Marie Newman Democratic Primary In Illinois Means</a>. A lot of things are going to go this way because the "centrists" have deep pockets, but sometimes you have to run more than once to win. And the more people know that Lipinski was one of only two Democrats to vote for the Hyde Amendment, the more his seat will be in jeopardy. <p>Margaret Kimberly in <em>Black Agenda Report</em>, "<a href="https://www.blackagendareport.com/index.php/freedom-rider-no-protest-black-people">No Protest for Black People</a>: <font color=maroon>Donald Trump is certainly a motivator for white liberals. That group was quiescent when other presidents committed human rights abuses and war crimes, but they spring into action when Trump does something they don't like. It is commendable that thousands of people converged on airports in 2017 to protect victims of the Trump travel ban against seven Muslim nations. Now the outrage over the official policy of immigrant family separation has produced another groundswell of protest. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) offices have been blockaded, ICE employees are outed online and presidential staff are chased from restaurants by angry people. To be clear, the anger is justified and the protest is necessary. But where is this level of outrage when black people are victimized by this system?</font>" <p>Caitlin Johnstone, "<a href="https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2018/01/12/i-paid-to-see-a-movie-about-singing-i-got-ninety-minutes-of-pentagon-propaganda/">I Paid To See A Movie About Singing. I Got Ninety Minutes Of Pentagon Propaganda</a>." <p><a href="https://www.newsfromme.com/2018/06/24/todays-video-link-2713/">The Batman dance</a> <p>I know I was pretty preoccupied at the time, but I just can't imagine how I missed <a href="https://youtu.be/k3Sv0O_6noI">Stephen Colbert's Tolkien Mockingbird</a>. <p>"<a href="http://www.anarchogeekreview.com/opinion/fictional-cops-i-love-ranked-by-how-guilty-i-as-an-anarchist-feel-for-loving-them">Fictional Cops I Love, Ranked By How Guilty I, As An Anarchist, Feel For Loving Them</a>" &mdash; I don't even recognize the first one, but I have no guilt about liking Foyle and Murdoch, and of course, it was the last one that made me post the link, 'cause I love him most of all. <p><a href="https://youtu.be/QjvzCTqkBDQ">Paul McCartney Carpool Karaoke fab</a>. I think I teared up a bit at the end there. Everyone looked so happy. It was fab! <p>Jessica Harper, "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-9arBm8pOk">Special to Me</a>"Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-11592805866384589832018-06-22T18:13:00.003+01:002018-06-24T22:37:58.996+01:00He'd make a plan and follow through<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qHC3X4H0SgA/Wy0uHP3pKMI/AAAAAAAAB4E/hXmZByZAt7MeOaY3FR2te553WKpHUUHsgCLcBGAs/s1600/spring.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qHC3X4H0SgA/Wy0uHP3pKMI/AAAAAAAAB4E/hXmZByZAt7MeOaY3FR2te553WKpHUUHsgCLcBGAs/s320/spring.jpg" width="213" height="320" data-original-width="263" data-original-height="395" /></a></div> <p>"<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/06/20/telecom-backed-democrat-california-just-mutilated-nations-strongest-state-net">Telecom-Backed Democrat in California Just "Mutilated" Nation's Strongest State Net Neutrality Bill</a>: <font color=maroon>'These California Democrats will go down in history as among the worst corporate shills that have ever held elected office. Californians should rise up and demand that at their Assembly members represent them.' Following a "major win" for open internet advocates in the California Senate last month, State Assemblyman Miguel Santiago provoked widespread outrage on Wednesday when he 'rammed through' amendments that critics say 'eviscerate' what 'would have been the best net neutrality bill in the country.' 'It is, with the amendments, a fake net neutrality bill," declared state Sen. Scott Wiener of San Francisco, who introduced the original legislation. Wiener said Santiago's amendments 'mutilated' Senate Bill 822, which had passed the higher chamber despite fierce lobbying by the telecom industry.</font>" <p>David Dayen in <em>The New Republic</em>, "<a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/149305/atttime-warner-merger-already-government-feared">The AT&amp;T-Time Warner Merger Is Already What the Government Feared</a>: <font color=maroon>It's been quite a week for AT&T. One of the largest providers of wireless, internet, and cable TV in America, it closed a $85.4 billion deal last Thursday to acquire Time Warner, one of the biggest entertainment companies in the world, after a federal court blessed the merger over the Justice Department's objections. Judge Richard Leon, of the U.S. District Court for D.C., had rejected the government's argument that AT&T would lessen competition by leveraging Time Warner's 'must-have' television content to drive rival customers to its products. Within one week, AT&amp;T announced a plan to use Time Warner's television content to drive rival customers to its products. It's just one of several announcements from the new conglomerate that show the government was right: AT&amp;T is determined to use its economic and political power to expand its reach and dominate markets.</font>" <p>Zach Carter at <em>The Huffington Post</em> says that, "<a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/stephanie-kelton-economy-washington_us_5afee5eae4b0463cdba15121">Stephanie Kelton Has The Biggest Idea In Washington</a>: <font color=maroon>Once an outsider, her radical economic thinking won over Wall Street. Now she's changing the Democratic Party.</font>" But clearly, <a href="https://newrepublic.com/minutes/148792/democrats-love-pay-go">not fast enough</a>: "<font color=maroon>Why do Democrats love pay-go? House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer on Wednesday both said they'll back pay-go rules if they regain control of the House this fall, meaning that all proposed legislation will have to be deficit-neutral.</font>" This may be the stupidest thing they could say in public. <p>On a similar note, <em>The Hill</em> reports that Pelosi said that, "<a href="http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/391214-pelosi-medicare-for-all-should-be-evaluated-if-dems-win-house">'Medicare for All' should be 'evaluated' if Dems win House</a>." This sounds like a non-promise to begin with (yeah, well "evaluate" the excuses for why we can't do it), but of course if they actually campaigned on it, people might even believe they mean it. Also, it might help them win. <p>This <a href="https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000163-f6ef-d9aa-af77-feff2ba10000">National Tracking Poll</a> for June 7-10 says a number of things you already know but the Democrats have managed to weaken themselves where they should be strongest and if they actually wanted to win, they'd be worried. <p>David Dayen in <em>The Nation</em>, "<a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/toys-r-us-workers-take-private-equity-barons-ashamed/">Toys 'R' Us Workers Take on Private-Equity Barons: 'You Ought to Be Ashamed'</a>: <font color=maroon>The executives stripped profits from the toy chain and left employees with nothing. </font>" <p><em>The Hill</em>, "<a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/392186-sanders-gets-best-reception-at-early-2020-audition">Sanders gets best reception at early 2020 audition</a> [...] <font color=maroon>More than a thousand energetic attendees gathered at the We the People Summit to hear from some top potential 2020 contenders: Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.). But it was Sanders who won the most applause from the crowd of progressive and labor activists.</font>" <p>Attempted murder: "<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jun/05/florida-school-shooting-survivor-david-hogg-swatting-prank">Florida school shooting survivor targeted in 'swatting' prank</a>" &mdash; Calling the cops on someone is not a "prank", and if the Hoggs had been at home when the police responded to the call, they might very well have been killed. <p>Bernie wants to <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/bernie-sanders-commonsense-plan-save-postal-service/">save the postal service</a>. One of the people he wants to save it from is Joe Manchin, one of Trump's Democrats. <p>"<a href="https://www.theroot.com/the-unofficial-gag-order-of-jamil-al-amin-h-rap-brown-1826396693/amp">The Unofficial Gag Order of Jamil Al-Amin (H. Rap Brown): 16 Years in Prison, Still Not Allowed to Speak</a>" &mdash; Al Amin had a gag order placed on him during his original trial, but something very odd has happened, all these years later, and suddenly a paranoid-sounding FBI report got him hidden away at grave threat to his health. As for the original crime, the only evidence that was used against him did not implicate him at all. Funny, that. <p>This story isn't interesting until you get to the perp's name. All I can say is, I blame the parents. "<a href="https://www.news4jax.com/news/anonymous-complaint-in-st-augustine-leads-to-arrest-of-two-on-drug-charges">Anonymous complaint in St. Augustine leads to arrest of two on drug charges</a>: <font color=maroon>Police say they found crystal meth in a search.</font>" <p><center><font color=magenta>* * * * *</font></center><p><p>Howie Klein on <a href="http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2018/06/why-you-should-never-vote-for-blue-dog.html">Why You Should Never Vote For A Blue Dog</a>: <blockquote><font color=maroon>It's important to remember that the phrase "Blue Dogs" is not an adjective to describe conservative Democrats, though it could be. The "Blue Dogs" is a formal organization. You pay dues, elect officers, go to meetings, split up bribes from Big Business interests eager to purchase influence inside the Democratic caucus, etc. In order to be endorsed by the Blue Dogs, you have to apply and pass a written test proving you are a corrupt conservative. Many of their worst candidates-- like Jay Hulings (TX), Brad Ashford (NE), JD Huffstetler (VA) and Jim Grey (KY)-- have already been defeated by more progressive candidates in primaries this year. This is the garbage that's left:<p>• <b>Anthony Brindisi (NY)<br>• Paul Davis (KS)<br>• Gretchen Driskell (MI)<br>• Mel Hall (IN)</b><br>• Chris Hunter (FL)<br>• <b>Brendan Kelly (IL)</b><br>• Kathy Manning (NC)<br>• <b>Ben McAdams (UT)</b><br>• Matt Reel (TN)<br>• Max Rose (NY)<br>• Clarke Tucker (AR)<br>• <b>Denny Wolff (PA)</b><br>• Jeff Van Drew (NRA-NJ)<p>For the fun of it, I bolded every Blue Dog candidate who is in a district that was won by Bernie in the 2016 primary. So what's so bad about the Blue Dogs that I would urge readers to not vote for them in primaries and consider carefully if you want to vote for a lesser-of-two-evils candidate in the general? Let's go back a few years when the Blue Dogs were bragging about how they were powerful enough to have scuttled the public option. Not a single House Republican voted for the Affordable Care Act-- and all the negotiating was internal, between Democrats. The Blue Dogs held the bill hostage, threatening to vote with the Republicans to kill it. <p>[...] ProgressivePunch has graded every Blue Dog's record "F." These are the 7 worst Democrats in Congress based on this cycle's votes. All of them have voted more frequently with the Republicans on crucial roll calls than with the Democrats. Walter Jones (R-NC) votes with the Democrats more than they do. And Justin Amash votes against the GOP than all but one of the stinkin Blue Dogs. This year, worst of all has been Collin Peterson, who has voted with the Democrats 28% of the time. Kyrsten Sinema-- Blue Dog chairwoman who Schumer has chosen to run for the Senate-- has voted with the Democrats (from a safe blue seat) 32% of the time. Jim Costa, also in a safe blue district, voted with the Dems 32%, as have 2 more from safe blue seats, Jim Costa (CA) and Henry Cuellar (TX). Josh Gottheimer- 39%, Tom O'Halleran- 40%, Stephanie Murphy- 42%. Horrible. And if you say, we need them to win, you are absolutely wrong. In fact, the opposite is true. History proves that most of them will likely lose their seats in the 2022 midterms when Democratic core voters realize what they are and stay away from the polls.</font></blockquote><p><center><font color=magenta>* * * * *</font></center><p> <p>Eric Levitz says Democrats are more focused on bread-and-butter issues than people think, but "<a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/05/the-democratic-party-has-an-msnbc-problem.html">The Democratic Party Has an 'MSNBC Problem'</a> [...] <font color=maroon>In truth, the Democratic Party is quite focused on promoting a progressive critique of the GOP's positions on taxes, health care, and social spending, because it knows that Republicans are deeply vulnerable on those issues. MSNBC, CNN, and the broader mainstream media, however, are obsessed with the White House's myriad scandals &mdash; because they know that a federal investigation into the American president's potential ties to the Kremlin (and/or porn stars and/or white-collar crime) is ratings gold &mdash; while daily broadcasts reiterating the regressive implications of the GOP's tax law and health-care plans would be anything but.</font>" <p>Eric Levitz was also on <em>The Majority Report</em> talking to Sammy about <a href="https://youtu.be/ekxamRz8YAU">Why Unions Are Not a Special Interest</a>. <p>"<a href="https://apnews.com/36f57577445a4486b1c76b02a247ce72">Supreme Court allows Ohio, other state voter purges</a>: <font color=maroon>WASHINGTON (AP) &mdash; States can target people who haven't cast ballots in a while in efforts to purge their voting rolls, the Supreme Court ruled Monday in a case that has drawn wide attention amid stark partisan divisions and the approach of the 2018 elections. By a 5-4 vote that split the conservative and liberal justices, the court rejected arguments in a case from Ohio that the practice violates a federal law intended to increase the ranks of registered voters. A handful of other states also use voters' inactivity to trigger processes that could lead to their removal from the voting rolls.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/06/11/us/tennessee-immigration-trump.html">ICE Came for a Tennessee Town's Immigrants. The Town Fought Back.</a> <font color=maroon>Agents conducted one of the biggest workplace raids since President Trump announced a crackdown on illegal immigration, detaining 97 workers in Morristown. But for residents, these workers were their neighbors.</font>" <p>This almost makes me laugh, but "<a href="https://theappeal.org/eric-holder-may-be-considering-a-presidential-run-but-has-his-time-passed/#.WykdZ7AhVTY.twitter">Eric Holder May Be Considering A Presidential Run. But Has His Time Passed?</a> <font color=maroon>If Holder's DOJ showed little mercy to drug offenders and whistleblowers, his DOJ was tender and mild with big banks after the financial asset bubble collapse. 'There were no subpoenas, no document reviews, no wiretaps' is how one DOJ source described Holder's approach to Wall Street crime. At the end of 2014, Columbia Journalism Review business reporter Ryan Chittum observed that 'Holder leaves office having been far outclassed by the Bush administration even in prosecuting corporate criminals, despite overseeing the aftermath of one of the biggest orgies of financial corruption in history.'</font> [...] <font color=maroon>We surely haven't seen the last of prosecutor politicians who grandstand and indict their way into cable news glory and donor-class cocktail parties. But a little light bulb is going on over an increasing number of Americans' heads that ambitious prosecutors in the most carceral country on the planet are perhaps not the best people to put in charge of fixing our justice system, much less running our government.</font>" <p>Matt Taibbi in <em>Rolling Stone</em>, "<a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/trump-family-separation-scandal-w521824">Trump's Family Separation Scandal Has Revealed Every Species of Hypocrite</a>: <font color=maroon>Immigration hawks and War on Terror monsters alike are using President Trump's revolting present to expiate past sins.</font>" Even Michael Hayden is getting in on this. <p>Theresa May was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jun/22/theresa-mays-family-separations-trump-children-britain-immigration">doing this crap</a> when she was still Home Secretary. She is sympatico with Trump and it's a joke to hear her pretending she finds Trump's behavior worthy of condemnation. <p>RIP: <a href="http://www.ktvu.com/news/jerry-maren-last-surviving-member-of-lollipop-guild-dies-at-98"><b>Jerry Maren</b>, last surviving member of 'Lollipop Guild,' dies at 98</a>: <font color=maroon>SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Jerry Maren -- the world's last living <em>Wizard of Oz</em> munchkin -- has died at the age of 98, TMZ has learned.</font>" <p>RIP: <a href="https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/clint-walker-dead-dies-cheyenne-dirty-dozen-1202819083/"><b>Clint Walker</b>, Star of TV Western <em>Cheyenne</em>, Dies at 90</a>: <font color=maroon>For seven seasons from 1955-61, he played Cheyenne Bodie, a rambunctious wanderer in the post-Civil War West, on the ABC series <em>Cheyenne</em>. (He also guested as the character on <em>Maverick</em>.)</font>" Yeah, we watched all those westerns at our house when I was a kid. I didn't even notice this until I saw Langford had mentioned him in the <em>Ansible</em> <a href="http://news.ansible.uk/a371.html#15">obits</a> for his genre credits. <p>Ryan Cooper in <em>The Week</em>, "<a href="http://theweek.com/articles/777103/presidential-delusions-democratic-billionaires">The presidential delusions of Democratic billionaires</a>: <font color=maroon>Howard Schultz announced Monday that he's stepping down as CEO of Starbucks and immediately sparked speculation that he is going to run for president. Business-friendly news outlets got his friends (that is, other CEOs) to vouch for him, and he started talking up an issue to seem like a serious political player. Naturally, it was a lot of claptrap about the national debt. But he's not alone. Other billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg, Mark Cuban, Elon Musk, and Michael Bloomberg (who may be getting the itch to purchase himself another high political office, as he did the New York City mayoralty) have also invited speculation about running. The modern robber barons of our Second Gilded Age already have a death grip on the commanding heights of the economy, and Donald Trump seemingly cruised to the presidency on his billions, so why shouldn't they try the same trick?</font> [...] <font color=maroon>All that aside, the political appeal of deficit phobia today is nil, and nobody but a billionaire (or, just possibly, Chuck Schumer) could fail to notice it. No coddled, inept rich guy limply whining about borrowing and how Medicare is too expensive is going to beat Trump delivering xenophobic tirades to the baying ride-or-die partisans of the Republican base. Of course, in the age of President Donald J. Trump, one must always include the caveat that the future is an unknowable void from hell, and anything bad that can happen probably will. Maybe one of these plutocrats will discover his inner Mussolini and cruise to victory. But I fear it is more likely that one will mount a vanity third-party run, only to bleed enough votes from the Democratic candidate in 2020 to give Trump another term.</font>" Remember Bloomberg threatening to make an indy run if Sanders was the Democratic nominee? Yeah. <p>"<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/05/19/surprising-popularity-far-left-policies/">The Surprising Popularity of 'Far Left' Policies</a>: <font color=maroon>Supposedly radical ideals are actually embraced by large swaths of the American public.</font>" &mdash; It's just amazing who can get called "far left" by <em>The Washington Post</em>. <p>Josh Barro in <em>Business Insider</em>, "<a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/bill-hillary-clinton-normalized-trump-2018-5?r=US&IR=T">Why does Trump get away with corruption? Because Bill and Hillary Clinton normalized it</a> [...] <font color=maroon>Here's one reason the Trump corruption scandals aren't connecting as much as they should: Before Democrats spent the past 18 months telling everyone this is not normal, they spent years reassuring voters that this was normal.</font>" <p>Branko Marcetic, <em>Jacobin</em>, "<a href="https://jacobinmag.com/2018/05/hillary-clinton-amy-chozick-2016-election">From the Jaws of Victory</a>: <font color=maroon>We've read <em>Chasing Hillary</em> so you didn't have to. The Clinton campaign was even worse than we thought.</font>" Here's one to start: <font color=maroon>After flirting with running in 2016, former vice-president Joe Biden ultimately declined to jump in due to what many believed was grief over his son's death. Yet Chozick argues he was nervous about the prospect of crossing the Clintons to begin with. 'You guys don't understand these people,' Biden had allegedly told the White House press corps off the record one day. 'The Clintons will try to destroy me.'</font>" <p>Shaun King,, "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/06/14/bernie-sanders-criminal-justice-reform/">How Bernie Sanders Evolved on Criminal Justice Reform</a> [...] <font color=maroon>In meeting Krasner, Sanders found someone who approaches problems in a manner very similar to his own &mdash; but is actually getting stuff done. I don't mean that as a slight to Sanders, but as a progressive U.S. senator in a Republican-controlled Congress with Donald Trump as president, it's almost impossible to pass progressive reforms. Krasner has only been in office for six months and is radically changing everything about the inner processes of justice in Philadelphia. It was a light bulb moment. Real Justice helped elect Krasner, as well as other reform candidates across the country, and Sanders now wanted to know how he could help.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>'It's disgusting, Shaun, that our country is basically criminalizing poverty. I'll be honest with you. I really didn't know this was happening. I had no idea hundreds of thousands of Americans, particularly African-Americans, were being held in jail, for months or years, even though they've never been convicted of a crime, simply because they can't afford bail,' Sanders told me in a tiny dressing room backstage before the event. 'I've learned a lot,' he continued. 'I see the racial disparities clearer than ever. I want to help &mdash; just tell me how I can best help and we'll do it.'</font>" <p>Also Shaun King, "<a href="https://medium.com/@ShaunKing/you-dont-really-know-who-bernie-sanders-was-in-the-1960s-79628016125f">You don't really know who Bernie Sanders was in the 1960s. Why it mattered then and why it matters in 2018</a> [...] <font color=maroon>Bernie hates telling these stories and has resisted using them for political capital across the years &mdash; even when advisors and others have told him it would boost his profile &mdash; he has refused. He does what he does because he cares. When I introduced Bernie at a rally in Los Angeles by sharing many of these stories, his own family came to me in tears saying that even they had never heard them before. He has always felt that what he did during the sixties paled in comparison to those who were beaten or lost their lives &mdash; and so he has kept some powerful stories to himself.</font>" <p>This is a good little video that explains exactly why Hillary Clinton really lost, and why Democrats have to keep denying it. "<a href="https://jackpineradicals.com/boards/topic/thomas-frank-on-the-democratic-party-their-credibility-trap-and-the-beleaguere/">Thomas Frank on the Democratic Party, Their Credibility Trap, and the Beleaguered Middle Class</a>" <p>I see people keep asking what "Donut Twitter" is. It's the proud tradition of <a href="https://theoutline.com/post/2092/the-dnc-keeps-snubbing-the-left?zd=5&zi=4h7hc7qf">the alt-center snubbing the left</a>: "<font color=maroon>Repeatedly, establishment Democrats have infantilized and derided the progressive wing of the party.</font>" <p>Reminder: Right-wing billionaires have been working to a plan, with the help of some Democrats, with "<a href="https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2017/05/05/documents-detail-bradley-foundation-efforts-build-right-wing-infrastructure-nationwide/">Weaponized Philanthropy: Document Trove Details Bradley Foundation's Efforts To Build Right-Wing 'Infrastructure' Nationwide</a> <p><a href="https://eand.co/why-american-life-is-traumatizing-americans-but-they-dont-know-it-4f02f5460565">Why American Life is Traumatizing Americans But They Don't Know it</a> [...] <font color=maroon>I hope by now you are beginning to see what I see. American life is becoming one long, daily, repeated exercise in trauma. Americans are being traumatized according to the textbook definition, by the institutions, structures, and habits of daily life under predatory capitalism, which demands that they live at the edge of survival, of just being, at the very brink of being annihilated, mostly so that the economy can 'grow'. Americans have become accustomed to being at the edge of life and death &mdash; but that is what trauma is.</font>" <p>Raven Onthill at <em>Advice Unasked</em>, on "<a href="http://adviceunasked.blogspot.com/2018/02/a-well-regulated-militia-part-0.html">A Well Regulated Militia</a>: <font color=maroon>The genesis of the piece was some decades ago research into the Second Amendment and the militia. One of the works I read was the commonly-cited-by-firearms &mdash; advocates 1698 'A Discourse of Government with Relation to Militias' by Andrew Fletcher. The 'Discourse' contains what may be the first use of the phrase 'well-regulated militia;' certainly one of the earliest uses. But how did this phrase make it into the Constitution? What was Fletcher doing writing about militia anyway? And what does it all mean for us, now?</font>" <p><a href="http://themindcircle.com/fallstreak-holes/">Fallstream holes</a> look like a portal in the sky to another dimension. <p>"<a href="http://themindcircle.com/street-art-tom-bob/">Genius Street Artist Is Secretly Turning New York Streets Into Art</a>." Some of these are fun. <p>"<a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/this-mindblowing-video-of-the-moon-coming-down-to-earth-is-real-not-photoshopped-and-just-wow">This Mindblowing Video of The Moon Coming Down to Earth Is Totally Real</a>" This is immensely cool. <p>I've always wondered what Brian Boitano thought about his appearances in <em>South Park</em>, and it just occurred to me that someone <em>must have interviewed him about it</em>, and, indeed, <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/sports/knapp/article/Tickled-by-life-Boitano-even-enjoys-South-Park-2505146.php">they have</a>. <p>"<a href="https://youtu.be/sNJmfuEWR8w">What Would Brian Boitano Do?</a>"Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-42451094838745395582018-06-06T03:10:00.001+01:002018-06-06T03:10:40.807+01:00It could make a million for you overnight<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PsgWp7fEfzA/WxdAVcAvOOI/AAAAAAAAB3w/IQKftllrCEogaif9S_fug6S1rcc0B0Z5QCLcBGAs/s1600/SpringFiveFlowerLake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PsgWp7fEfzA/WxdAVcAvOOI/AAAAAAAAB3w/IQKftllrCEogaif9S_fug6S1rcc0B0Z5QCLcBGAs/s320/SpringFiveFlowerLake.jpg" width="320" height="180" data-original-width="1200" data-original-height="675" /></a></div> <p>Cristian Farias in <em>New York Magazine</em>, "<a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/05/supreme-court-shuts-workers-out-of-the-courthouse-for-good.html">The Supreme Court Has Decided to Shut Workers Out of the Courthouse for Good</a> [...] <font color=maroon>So high were the stakes in Epic, that during the hearing for the case &mdash; which saw lawyers for employers, workers, the Department of Justice, and the National Labor Relations Board all squaring off with everyone else &mdash; Justice Stephen Breyer openly wondered if a ruling for the employers would effectively cut out 'the entire heart of the New Deal.'</font>" RBG calls on Congress to fix the mess. Everyone else should, too. <p>"<a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/article211745894.html">Democrats join Koch group to revamp veterans programs</a>: <font color=maroon>WASHINGTON Democrats for years have seen the conservative Koch brothers as political enemies. Former Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid even called them "un-American." But Wednesday, Senate Democrats teamed up with Republicans to pass major veterans health care legislation championed by the Kochs. The Koch-funded Concerned Veterans for America celebrated a big victory with the passage of the VA MISSION Act, a sweeping bill that overhauls how the Department of Veterans Affairs gives patients access to private-sector doctors. It's a big win for the once-obscure advocacy group backed by conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch. The group helped write the bill, which sailed through the Senate by a 92-5 vote after also passing the House overwhelmingly. It got broad support from politicians and veterans groups across the political spectrum, and President Donald Trump is expected to sign the bill into law soon.</font>" Of the Democratic caucus, only Merkley, Sanders, and Schatz voted No. <p>"<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/05/23/j20-trial-project-veritas-video/">Prosecutors Withheld Evidence That Could Exonerate J20 Inauguration Protesters, Judge Rules</a>: <font color=maroon>CHIEF JUDGE Robert E. Morin of the D.C. Superior Court found on Wednesday that federal prosecutors suppressed potentially exculpatory evidence against six Inauguration Day protesters. In a motion filed late last night, attorneys for the defendants accused the government of withholding evidence that could have exonerated their clients &mdash; a serious violation of pretrial discovery rules. Attorneys allege that the state withheld evidence by editing a video of a protest planning meeting. Defense attorneys called on the court to sanction Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Kerkhoff for 'blatant hiding of evidence' and requested that the indictment against their clients be dismissed. At pretrial hearing Wednesday afternoon, Morin agreed that the prosecution had violated the 'Brady rule,' which governs the state's pretrial obligations to disclose exculpatory evidence, but declined to rule on the defense's motions to dismiss the indictment or suppress the evidence. Morin will rule on those sanctions next week.</font>" <p>The Clintonati like to claim Bernie Sanders said Planned Parenthood was "the establishment", which is a mischaracterization, but maybe if he had he wouldn't have been wrong. "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/05/23/planned-parenthood-union-nlrb/">Planned Parenthood Is Asking Donald Trump's Labor Board For Help Busting Its Colorado Union</a>: <font color=maroon>COLORADO PLANNED PARENTHOOD executives, with help from President Donald Trump's labor board appointees, are fighting their health center workers' unionization efforts in a case that could set a precedent for workers' rights nationwide. The case is Rocky Mountain Planned Parenthood Inc. v. SEIU. Staff for Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, in coordination with SEIU Local 105, won the election for their union in December 2017. But shortly after the vote to unionize, Planned Parenthood leadership, instead of recognizing the new unit, turned to the Republican-controlled National Labor Relations Board to challenge the outcome. The Planned Parenthood bosses won the first round, and the appeal will now move to the full five-member labor board.</font>" (Interestingly, PP doesn't appear to be supporting Medicare for All, either. <p>"<a href="https://thinkprogress.org/supreme-court-quietly-handed-victory-to-abortion-opponents-f193063d7c30/">The Supreme Court just quietly handed a big victory to abortion opponents</a>: <font color=maroon>Trump's judges just got a clear signal that they can chop away at abortion rights and get away with it. The Supreme Court announced on Tuesday that it will not hear Planned Parenthood of Arkansas v. Jegley, despite the fact that the lower court's opinion in this case is at odds with the Court's 2016 opinion striking down a Texas anti-abortion law.</font> <p>"<a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/390006-illinois-ratifies-equal-rights-amendment-decades-after-deadline">Illinois ratifies Equal Rights Amendment &mdash; decades after deadline</a>." I still get angry when I remember why this didn't happen <em>before</em> the deadline. <p>The first two Episodes of <a href="https://theappeal.org/the-appeal-podcast-episodes-1-and-2/"><em>The Appeal Podcast</em></a> are up, on "District Attorneys Are The Most Powerful People You've Never Heard Of. With guest Josie Duffy Rice" and "The Misplaced Sanctimony of Criminalizing Sex Work. With guest Melissa Gira Grant". <p>"<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/29/blue-state-democrats-have-a-new-cause-helping-millionaires.html">Blue-state Democrats have a new cause: Helping millionaires</a> [...] <font color=maroon>On the heels of the new Republican tax law, state Democrats, who until recently were advocating higher taxes on the rich, are suddenly fighting to protect their own members of the top 1 percent from higher taxes. Some Dems are even proposing both &mdash; raise taxes on the wealthy with one hand and help them with the other.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.cjr.org/watchdog/corporate-tax-breaks.php">How an arcane, new accounting standard is helping reporters follow the money</a> [...] <font color=maroon>In Fulton County, the largest of nine counties in the Atlanta metro area, officials were trying to comply with the new disclosures and had hired Ernst &amp; Young to help. As the accountants spoke, Niesse peppered them with questions. At one point, the accountants left the room to discuss the accuracy of their numbers. 'When they came back out, they agreed they needed to present the information in a clearer way,' Niesse recalls. That's when Niesse noticed an extensive spreadsheet on an accountant's laptop, open on the conference room table. Unlike the PowerPoint, the spreadsheet was crystal clear: it showed the parcel IDs and property taxes not paid on every recent development in Fulton County.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/right-wing-millennial-machine_us_5b049aebe4b07c4ea102e0c3">The Right-Wing Millennial Machine</a>: <font color=maroon>Conservatives are building an army of fired-up young people. How? By offering them salaries.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Progressives aren't just out of sync with their own need to recruit and retain young people. They're also lagging behind conservative interests. A 2017 study found that between 2008 and 2014, conservative donors gave three times more to millennial outreach groups than liberal donors. Much of that funding, Thompson says, went to things like paid fellowships, travel stipends and study grants ? creating the feeder system that will guide young people into actual jobs with political campaigns and think tanks. 'The Republicans are building an army, while the Democrats are still paying you in "making the world a better place,"' said Carlos Vera, the executive director of Pay Our Interns, a watchdog group. 'I've had older people say to me, 'Well, I did unpaid internships and I was fine.' Then you ask them when that was and they say, '1972.' You could work your way through college back then. That simply is not the case anymore.'</font>" <p><em>The Hill</em>, "<a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/house/389498-assange-offers-to-show-schiff-there-was-no-collusion">WikiLeaks's Assange reportedly offers to show Schiff 'there was no collusion'</a>: <font color=maroon>WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is willing to meet with Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, to prove there was "no collusion," according to an intermediary who spoke with MSNBC.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Schiff reportedly said that he would talk to Assange but only if he were in U.S. custody. Assange is currently residing in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London to avoid arrest and possible extradition to the U.S. on allegations of espionage.</font>" Schiff doesn't want to hear evidence of no collusion, so of course he's willing to talk to Assange only under conditions Assange would have to be suicidal to agree to. <p>Interesting article from David Adler in <em>The New York Times</em>, of all places. "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/05/23/opinion/international-world/centrists-democracy.html">Centrists Are the Most Hostile to Democracy, Not Extremists</a> [...] <font color=maroon>Some of the most striking data reflect respondents' views of elections. Support for 'free and fair' elections drops at the center for every single country in the sample. The size of the centrist gap is striking. In the case of the United States, fewer than half of people in the political center view elections as essential.</font>" [graph] <font color=maroon>Of course, the concept of 'support for democracy' is somewhat abstract, and respondents may interpret the question in different ways. What about support for civil rights, so central to the maintenance of the liberal democratic order? In almost every case, support for civil rights wanes in the center. In the United States, only 25 percent of centrists agree that civil rights are an essential feature of democracy.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>One of the strongest warning signs for democracy has been the rise of populist leaders with authoritarian tendencies. But while these leaders have become more popular, it is unclear whether citizens explicitly support more authoritarian styles of government. I find, however, evidence of substantial support for a 'strong leader' who ignores his country's legislature, particularly among centrists. In the United States, centrists' support for a strongman-type leader far surpasses that of the right and the left.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/6/1/1768525/-Voting-Rights-Roundup-New-Hampshire-GOP-s-voter-fraud-detection-system-exposed-as-well-a-fraud">Voting Rights Roundup: New Hampshire GOP's voter fraud detection system exposed as, well, a fraud</a>" &mdash; and a lot of other places where voter-suppression and gerrymandering have been in play. <p>Jon Schwarz in <em>The Intercept</em>, "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/05/21/chuck-schumer-is-the-worst-possible-democratic-leader-on-foreign-policy-at-the-worst-possible-time/">Chuck Schumer Is The Worst Possible Democratic Leader On Foreign Policy At The Worst Possible Time</a> [...] <font color=maroon>Schumer's positions on domestic policy leave much to be desired, but not on every issue. By contrast, his views on foreign policy are largely indistinguishable from the Republican Party in general and Trump specifically.</font>" <p>Sean McElwee in the NYT, "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/23/opinion/democrats-race.html">The Rising Racial Liberalism of Democratic Voters</a>: <font color=maroon>In response to both the election of Barack Obama in 2008 and the backlash in favor of Donald Trump in 2016, analysts and commentators have focused mostly on racial attitudes on the right. Both scholarship and journalistic accounts of American politics have drilled down on the increased opposition to immigration and high levels of racial resentment among Obama opponents and Trump supporters. But few have investigated the countervailing trend on the left, the increasing racial liberalism of Democratic voters, which I've been thinking about for a while.</font>" <p>Dday has "<a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/148593/fears-next-recession">Fears of the Next Recession</a>: <font color=maroon>What will it do to the many millions of Americans who still haven't recovered from the last one?</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Oil prices aside, other economic indicators suggest a recession in the not-too-distant future, perhaps by the last year of Trump's current term in 2020. There are obvious political ramifications to that. Trump currently gets relatively high marks on the economy; a slump during a presidential election year would damage hopes of a second term. But it would also damage all the 'forgotten men and women' who have been put further and further behind with each cycle of recession and recovery. Bard College economist Pavlina Tcherneva constructed the best visual depiction of this phenomenon, with a chart showing the distribution of post-recession gains. In the 1940s and '50s, the bottom 90 percent of income earners enjoyed at least two-thirds of the benefits. In the 1980s and '90s, they saw only 20 percent of the gains, and in the recovery after 9/11, that number fell to 2 percent. After the financial crisis of 2007, the bottom 90 percent saw negative gains &mdash; that is, they lost ground during the recovery.</font>" <p>Interview by Katie Halper, "<a href="https://youtu.be/Op2Ybfi8tII">Debunking the Bernie Bro Myth: Briahna Joy Gray Interview</a>" <p>Ladies and gentlemen, the legendary Ace of Cups are <a href="https://www.aceofcupsofficial.com/">finally making a record</a>. <p>RIP, "<font color=maroon>It is my sad duty to note the passing of <b>Gardner Dozois</b> today, Sunday May 27, at 4:00 p.m. The cause was an overwhelming systemic infection. Gardner had been hospitalized for a minor illness and was expected to be released shortly. The decline was swift. He died surrounded by his family.</font>" &mdash; posted by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/michael.swanwick.3/posts/1792725334120421">Michael Swanwick</a> on FB, It's the anniversary of that Memorial Day weekend when I met them all at Disclave for the first time &mdash; Gardner, Sue Caspur, Piglet (George Alec Effinger), Swanwick, GRRM, Dave Harris, Pat Cadigan, Tess Kissinger,et al. Gardner and Sue in particular were a big part of my fandom. This breaks my heart. <p>RIP: <a href="http://ultimateclassicrock.com/eddy-the-chief-clearwater-dies/"><b>Eddy Clearwater</b>, blues guitarist, at 83</a>: "<font color=maroon>Grammy-nominated Chicago blues guitarist Eddy 'The Chief' Clearwater has died of heart failure at age 83, his label, Alligator Records, announced. He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2016 and had received two Blues Music Awards. His Grammy nod came when his 2003 album Rock 'N' Roll City appeared in the Best Traditional Blues Album category.</font>" <p>RIP: "<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-44268960"><b>Alan Bean</b>, moon-walking astronaut and artist, dies aged 86</a>" &mdash; He retired so he could paint what he had seen and record it for posterity. He saw the colors on the moon. <p>Matt Taibbi, "<a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/jeff-beals-new-york-midterms-w520302">The Battle of Woodstock</a>: <font color=maroon>What does it mean when the biggest threat to upstart Democrats is the national Democratic Party?</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Beals goes on to suggest that there's an even more nefarious motive for the defeatist analyses. Successfully spreading the idea that the party can't reach certain voters not only absolves the national bureaucracy of any need to change, but reduces campaigning to a blunt-force fundraising contest, a place where they're comfortable. 'This is where things get dark, but I think there are a lot of people who want you to think we can't win those votes,' he says. 'They want us to just get back to focusing on the fundraising, and keep the cash cow going.'</font>" <p>Ryan Cooper in <em>The Week</em>, "<a href="http://theweek.com/articles/775583/democratic-party-flying-blind-economics">The Democratic Party is flying blind on economics</a> [...] <font color=maroon>I found no evidence that anyone in the Democratic Party, in the leadership or out, had been promulgating a strategic party doctrine on this question, or even discussing it much. On the contrary, if anything there were strong indications that the old background radiation of austerity and deficit phobia has continued to beam through their collective political unconscious.</font>" <p>Matt Stoller in <em>The Baffler</em>, "<a href="https://thebaffler.com/salvos/lords-of-misrule-stoller">Lords of Misrule: How the legal profession became Wall Street's helpmeet</a>: <font color=maroon>IN 1937, FUTURE SUPREME COURT JUSTICE Robert Jackson gave a toast at the New York State Bar Association on the civic responsibilities of the legal profession. 'No other people have submitted so generally to lawyer leadership,' he said. Yet, he argued, 'There is no constitutional protection for our lawyer monopoly.' Jackson was referring, in a tone of populist outrage, to the new wave of big law firms that were then vehemently opposing Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal and its crackdown on Wall Street in the wake of the 1929 crash. 'We must rely solely on the record of a trust well fulfilled to perpetuate lawyer control.' Jackson was the last Supreme Court Justice not to graduate from law school, and he hated the corruption of the craft of lawyering via the growth of corporate law, centered then in the American Bar Association. Jackson believed that the professionalization of the law and the resulting priority of financial over ethical considerations among lawyers have been toxic for American democracy.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Seeing the ethos of federal enforcement collapse under all these pressures, it's hard not to be enraged at the entire legal profession, from self-satisfied judges like Kaplan to corporate defense attorneys like Mary Jo White who collect millions and construct an ethical system designed to help their friends steal from all of us.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>It's abundantly clear, in other words, that the decision to refrain from prosecuting important actors in the corporate world was Obama White House policy, and this policy was part of an overall ideological shift away from allegiance to democracy itself, to rule by the people.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://medium.com/@EuroYankeeBlog/yes-there-is-a-civil-war-within-the-democratic-party-its-just-not-what-you-think-45727b4b93e8">Yes, There is a Civil War Within the Democratic Party &mdash; it's Just Not What You Think</a>: <font color=maroon>The popular narrative about the Democratic Divide is all wrong and it's important that we realise the truth &mdash; before it is too late.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>So yes, Mainstream Media and political pundits, there is a 'civil war' raging within the Democratic Party, but the rebels are not the Berniecrats. The true revolutionaries are the Clintonian apostates who have been trying for 20 years to overturn and reverse the greatest achievements of the Democratic Party, programs that help the poor, the working class and the middle class; programs that protect the people from the cruel vicissitudes of the Market and the sociopathic machinations of those whom FDR called 'the Economic Royalists.' The current Democratic Establishment is run by those self-same Economic Royalists; the robber barons whose hatred FDR welcomed are now met with open arms and warm receptions by the revolutionary Leadership that has seized control of the Democratic Party. These radicals have taken the Party of FDR, JFK, LBJ, RFK and turned it into the Democratic Party of Goldwater, Nixon and Reagan.</font>" <p>David Dayen in <em>The New Republic</em>, "<a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/148497/fitting-end-paul-ryans-fraudulent-political-career">A Fitting End to Paul Ryan's Fraudulent Political Career</a>: <font color=maroon>The Republican House of Representatives has become an unruly mob, and the speaker has no one to blame but himself.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Ryan's speakership has become untenable. House members are roping in Trump on a plan to depose Ryan this summer, putting the House in the hands of Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy. It's unclear whether the Freedom Caucus would go along. They have circulated a letter to get Jim Jordan, one of their leaders, to run for speaker, so the McCarthy plan to bring order to the House may only create greater disorder, and no speaker in charge for months.</font>" <p><em>The Guardian</em>, "<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/may/15/rightwing-thinktanks-secret-plot-against-unions?CMP=share_btn_tw">Exclusive: how rightwing groups wield secret 'toolkit' to plot against US unions</a>: <font color=maroon>Internal documents obtained by the Guardian reveal a nationwide drive to persuade union members to quit and stop paying dues</font>. [...] <font color=maroon>Documents obtained by the Guardian reveal that a network of radical conservative thinktanks spanning all 50 states is planning direct marketing campaigns targeted personally at union members to encourage them to quit. The secret push, the group hopes, could cost unions up to a fifth of their 7 million members, lead to the loss of millions of dollars in income and undermine a cornerstone of US progressive politics.</font>" <p>I'm not sure what to make of this, but, "<a href="https://steemit.com/government/@caitlinjohnstone/wikipedia-is-an-establishment-psyop">Wikipedia Is An Establishment Psyop</a>." Hm, the <em>Herald</em> seems to have <a href="http://www.heraldscotland.com/opinion/16222196.The_Dirty_Diary__Tilda_s_Polanski_shame__wiki_propaganda_wars_and_Lenny_s_brush_with_the_law/">the story</a>, too. <em>The Canary</em> <a href="https://www.thecanary.co/discovery/analysis-discovery/2018/05/23/the-philip-cross-scandal-how-wikipedia-is-being-used-against-left-wing-journalists/">has been a victim</a>. It seems obvious that "Philip Cross" is more than one person with a mission to make Wikipedia less friendly to leftier voices. <p>Did we mention that Google is officially evil now? "<a href="https://gizmodo.com/google-removes-nearly-all-mentions-of-dont-be-evil-from-1826153393">Google Removes 'Don't Be Evil' Clause From Its Code of Conduct</a>: <font color=maroon>Google's unofficial motto has long been the simple phrase 'don't be evil.' But that's over, according to the code of conduct that Google distributes to its employees. The phrase was removed sometime in late April or early May, archives hosted by the Wayback Machine show.</font>" <p>"<a href="http://evonomics.com/why-economist-ignore-much-of-rich-peoples-income/">Why Economists Ignore Much of Rich People's Income</a>: <font color=maroon>Did you 'earn' that money?</font>" <p>David Dayen and Ryan Grim in <em>The Intercept</em>, "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/05/23/democratic-party-leadership-moderates-dccc/">Party Leaders Are Not Strategic Geniuses, They Just Really Like Moderates, New Research Finds</a>: <font color=maroon>THE BATTLE BETWEEN grassroots Democratic activists and Washington-based party leaders continued to unfold Tuesday night, with the national party notching some rear-guard victories and local forces delivering the party its second high-profile setback in as many weeks. Through all of these contests, national party leaders have argued that their decision-making is not personal or ideological. They believe in the same progressive values as the grassroots activists, goes the argument, but more moderate candidates are needed to be able to win the general election and take the House back from Republicans.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>A paper in this month's edition of the peer-reviewed Legislative Studies Quarterly analyzes a decade's worth of federal elections, finding that party organizations boost moderate candidates across the board, whether the general election is expected to be competitive or a long shot. In other words, party support for moderates does not appear to be strategic, but sincere. 'They're not doing this to have a better shot at winning elections,' said the paper's author Hans Hassell, assistant professor of politics at Cornell College in Iowa.</font>" <p>David Dayen's Tiny Letter on how "<a href="https://tinyletter.com/DavidDayen/letters/wells-fargo-makes-pope-francis-sad">Wells Fargo Makes Pope Francis Sad</a>: <font color=maroon>"We are a much better company today than we were a year ago, and I am confident that this year Wells Fargo will be even better," said Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan in January. We now know that at that precise moment, employees in the wholesale unit of Wells Fargo were altering information on client forms without their knowledge. Wells Fargo needed to supply this information as part of an anti-money laundering consent order, and when faced with the deadline, they just broke the law and forged the forms. And the bank acknowledged this took place in late 2017 and early 2018. This comes on the heels of Wells Fargo admitting that, also in 2017, they kept fee rebates intended for public pension funds. It was called a "system set-up error." Both of these incidents occurred years after being caught issuing fake accounts, after illegally repossessing cars, after the dozen-odd other scandals for which Wells Fargo has made a show of penitence. When punishment is not meaningful, offenders get the message that they can continue to offend. Anyone with a 2 year-old child understands this, yet we continue to let banks like Wells Fargo escape without real accountability.</font>" <br>* At a later Tiny Letter, David has a <a href="https://tinyletter.com/DavidDayen/letters/doing-less-better">whole bunch of good links</a> to too many stories by himself and others for me to individually link to them all, but you may want to check them out <p>"<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/may/24/the-trouble-with-charitable-billionaires-philanthrocapitalism">The trouble with charitable billionaires</a>: <font color=maroon>More and more wealthy CEOs are pledging to give away parts of their fortunes &mdash; often to help fix problems their companies caused. Some call this 'philanthrocapitalism', but is it just corporate hypocrisy?</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Essentially, what we are witnessing is the transfer of responsibility for public goods and services from democratic institutions to the wealthy, to be administered by an executive class. In the CEO society, the exercise of social responsibilities is no longer debated in terms of whether corporations should or shouldn't be responsible for more than their own business interests. Instead, it is about how philanthropy can be used to reinforce a politico-economic system that enables such a small number of people to accumulate obscene amounts of wealth.</font>" <p>Matt Taibbi, "<a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/seymour-hersh-reporter-w520927">Seymour Hersh's Memoir Is Full of Useful Reporting Secrets</a>: <font color=maroon>The best of his generation writes a how-to that undermines the industry of Access Journalism</font> [...] <font color=maroon>When it comes time for the next generation of journalists to re-discover what this job is supposed to be about, they can at least read <em>Reporter</em>. It's all in here.</font>" <p>Also, Jon Schwarz, "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/06/02/seymour-hersh-memoir-reporter/">Seymour Hersh'S New Memoir Is A Fascinating, Flabbergasting Masterpiece</a> [...] <font color=maroon>If Hersh were a superhero, this would be his origin story. Two hundred and seventy-four pages after the Chicago anecdote, he describes his coverage of a massive slaughter of Iraqi troops and civilians by the U.S. in 1991 after a ceasefire had ended the Persian Gulf War. America's indifference to this massacre was, Hersh writes, 'a reminder of the Vietnam War's MGR, for Mere Gook Rule: If it's a murdered or raped gook, there is no crime.' It was also, he adds, a reminder of something else: 'I had learned a domestic version of that rule decades earlier' in Chicago.</font>" <p>Let's see, what's more depressing? Charlie Stross' "<a href="https://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2018/05/happy-21st-century.html#more">Happy 21st Century!</a>" or Chris Hedges' "<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/05/21/coming-collapse">The Coming Collapse</a>"? hard to say. <p><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/stories-44210012">Kitty Marion: The actress who became a 'terrorist'</a>" &mdash; Stumbling across the history of an unknown suffragette in the study of music halls. <p><em>The Onion</em>, "<a href="https://politics.theonion.com/lindsey-graham-vows-to-uphold-john-mccain-s-legacy-by-b-1825829928/">Lindsey Graham Vows To Uphold John McCain's Legacy By Blindly Supporting GOP Agenda After Grumbling For A Few Minutes</a>" <p>This <a href="https://youtu.be/JIJB7cv97Dg">Zain Ramadan 2018 Commercial</a> is rather touching. <p>If you can, you might want to listen to the BBC radio play in five parts of Terry Pratchett's <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b010ns71"><em>Night Watch</em></a>, one of my all-time favorites. <p>Beatles video for "<a href="https://youtu.be/yYvkICbTZIQ">Paperback Writer</a>" Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-15786774875084641412018-05-20T16:58:00.000+01:002018-05-20T23:30:22.267+01:00Some say it's a sign of weakness<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QyVBqUvplhg/WwGa3EM7BcI/AAAAAAAAB3k/Xkkww7f0pzsiQrieLYtu9spCad4NfM77QCLcBGAs/s1600/Aurora%2BLapland%252C%2BFinland.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QyVBqUvplhg/WwGa3EM7BcI/AAAAAAAAB3k/Xkkww7f0pzsiQrieLYtu9spCad4NfM77QCLcBGAs/s320/Aurora%2BLapland%252C%2BFinland.jpg" width="320" height="320" data-original-width="640" data-original-height="640" /></a></div> <p><em>The Hill</em>, "<a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/news/385769-court-orders-iran-to-pay-billions-to-9-11-victims-and-families">Court orders Iran to pay billions to 9/11 victims and families</a>: <font color=maroon>A federal judge on Tuesday ordered Iran to pay billions of dollars in damages to the families of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.</font>" It's unlikely they will actually pay it, but the very idea that Iran should have to pay for an attack by Saudi Arabians is pretty appalling. <p>"<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/05/19/blue-lives-matter-bill-police-brutality/">Call Congress's 'Blue Lives Matter' Bills What They Are: Another Attack On Black Lives</a>: <font color=maroon>ON WEDNESDAY, THE House of Representatives passed the Protect and Serve Act of 2018 by a vote of 382 to 35. The act &mdash; a congressional 'Blue Lives Matter' bill &mdash; would make it a federal crime to assault a police officer. The Senate version of the bill, which also has broad bipartisan support, goes even further, framing an attack on an officer as a federal hate crime. The bills exemplify the very worst sort of legislation: at once unnecessary and pernicious.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>A number of commentators have stressed the superfluousness of making police attacks a federal crime. There's not a state in the country that doesn't already treat assaulting or killing an officer with the heaviest of penalties. With the laws that are already on the books at the state level, it's already a safe assumption today that any convicted cop killer will be sentenced to life without parole.</font>" 162 Democrats voted for this piece of garbage. Out of 193. <p>Jonathan Cohn, "<a href="https://medium.com/@JonathanCohn/house-republicans-with-some-democratic-help-vote-in-favor-of-discrimination-and-deregulation-in-2b3332163bea">House Republicans, with Some Democratic Help, Vote in Favor of Discrimination and Deregulation in Latest Attacks on Federal Watchdogs</a>: <font color=maroon>This week, the Republican House of Representatives continued to work on one of their favorite lobbies: gutting financial regulation. On Tuesday, the House voted to repeal a 2013 Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) guidance that laid out steps indirect auto lenders should take to ensure that they are operating in compliance with the fair credits laws as applied to dealer markup and compensation policies. In other words, the CPFB wanted to help curb discrimination against consumers on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, and age, all prohibited by the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA). Racial discrimination in auto lending is a well-documented phenomenon. The vote was 234 to 175, with Vern Buchanan (FL-16) voting present. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (IL-27) was the only Republican to vote against the repeal. 11 Democrats joined the GOP: Jim Cooper (TN-05), Lou Correa (CA-46), Jim Costa (CA-16), Henry Cuellar (TX-28), Vicente Gonzalez (TX-15), Gene Green (TX-29), Stephanie Murphy (FL-07), Collin Peterson (MN-07), Kurt Schrader (OR-05), David Scott (GA-13), and Filemon Vela (TX-34).</font>" <p><a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/pennsylvania-dsa-major-primary-wins-state-house_us_5afbba0fe4b06a3fb50bb5d7">Socialist-Backed Candidates Sweep Pennsylvania State House Primaries</a>: <font color=maroon>Four Pennsylvania state House candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) won their Democratic primaries, marking another milestone in the radical left's march into electoral politics. The wins by the four candidates &mdash; all women unseating men &mdash; were the product of a variety of political forces and groups. But in a country where 'socialist' remains an epithet in certain quarters, the growing electoral success of a once-marginal socialist organization is an especially notable political development.</font>" There are also two Berniecrats from Nebraska who won primaries for seats in the US House, and in state legislatures, ten in PA, one in Nebraska, two in Oregon and two in Idaho. <br>* The story in <em>In These Times</em>, "<a href="http://inthesetimes.com/article/21149/socialism_dsa_pennsylvania_election_may_15_summer_lee_democratic_party">Socialists and Progressives Just Trounced the Democratic Establishment</a>: <font color=maroon>On Tuesday, insurgent challengers beat out their opponents in races across the country by running on bold left platforms.</font>" <p>David Dayen, "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/05/16/wall-street-bank-regulation-bill/">Bill Aimed At Saving Community Banks Is Already Killing Them</a>: <font color=maroon>AFTER INITIAL RELUCTANCE, House Republicans have finally reached an agreement to move forward on a bipartisan bank deregulation bill that the Senate passed in March. Its stated aim &mdash; to help rural community banks thrive against growing Wall Street power &mdash; appears to have been enough to power it across the finish line. But banking industry analysts say the bill is already having the opposite effect, and its loosening of regulations on medium-sized banks is encouraging a rush of consolidation &mdash; all of which ends with an increasing number of community banks being swallowed up and closed down.</font>" <p>Dday talked to Sam Seder about <a href="https://youtu.be/MQeAT9RbbIg">Primary Results &amp; the Fallout of the Dodd Frank Rollback</a> (among other things) on <em>The Majority Report</em>. <p>Symbolic victory in <em>The Hill</em>, "<a href="http://thehill.com/policy/technology/387985-senate-votes-to-save-net-neutrality-rules?userid=43578">Senate votes to save net neutrality rules</a>: <font color=maroon>The Senate on Wednesday voted to reinstate the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) net neutrality rules, passing a bill that has little chance of advancing in the House but offers net neutrality supporters and Democrats a political rallying point for the midterm elections. Democrats were able to force Wednesday's vote using an obscure legislative tool known as the Congressional Review Act (CRA). CRA bills allow Congress, with a majority vote in each chamber and the president's signature, to overturn recent agency moves.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20180509/13450339810/police-realizing-that-sesta-fosta-made-their-jobs-harder-sex-traffickers-realizing-made-their-job-easier.shtml">Police Realizing That SESTA/FOSTA Made Their Jobs Harder; Sex Traffickers Realizing It's Made Their Job Easier</a>: <font color=maroon>For many months in the discussion over FOSTA/SESTA, some of us tried to explain how problematic the bills were. Much of the focus of those discussions were about the negative impact it would have on free speech on the internet, as the way the bill was drafted would encourage greater censorship and more speech-chilling lawsuits. But as we heard from more and more people, we also realized just how incredibly damaging the bill was going to be to those it was ostensibly designed to protect. Beyond the fact that it was passed based on completely fictional claims about the size of the problem, those who actually were victims of sex trafficking began explaining -- in fairly stark terms -- how SESTA/FOSTA would put them in greater danger and almost certainly lead to deaths.</font>" And they were right. <p>Matt Stoller <a href="https://twitter.com/matthewstoller/status/996400225005789184">notes</a> that the new FTC Commissioner is sounding like the real deal. <br>"<font color=maroon>1. I mentioned this last night, but this memo by new FTC Commissioner @chopraftc is really worth reading. It is a bad-ass and extremely important statement on corporate crime and has significant implications for Facebook.</font><br>"<font color=maroon>2. First, some context. This memo is about recidivism, or committing a crime again once you've been caught. In 2011, Facebook was caught in 2011 engaging in 'unfair and deceptive' practices, and the FTC stated the company 'violated federal law.' Today's scandal is a repeat crime.</font><br>"<font color=maroon>3. 'FTC orders are not suggestions.' [] That's how law enforcer Chopra says it. And he footnotes that showing that the cost can be $41,484 per violation. Facebook has 87 million violations in the Cambridge Analytica scandal. This is a company killer.</font><br>"<font color=maroon>4. @chopraftc comes close to saying Zuckerberg should be fired and Facebook broken up. Violations of consent decrees should result in firing 'senior management and board directors," "outright bans on adjacent business practices, and closure of appropriate business lines.'</font><br>"<font color=maroon>5. What shows @chopraftc is serious and bipartisan about this is that he critiques Obama's failed law enforcement regime. He goes after the failure to do anything about HSBC for money laundering, and Wells Fargo for fraud. This is a defense of the rule of law.</font><br>"<font color=maroon>6. Now, here's why this matters. The FTC almost always has unanimous enforcement opinions, which gives individual commissioners sway to shape them. This is not a random shot across the bow, it's a signal to FTC staff to really propose aggressive remedies for Facebook violations.</font>" <br>Matt says it's worth looking at the <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4460769-Rohit-Chopra-Re-Repeat-Offenders.html">memo</a> yourself. <em>ProPublica</em>'s article is <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/rohit-chopra-ftc-commissioner-ftc-should-get-tough-on-companies-like-facebook-and-google">here</a>. <p><center><font color=magenta>* * * * *</font></center><p>Jeremy Scahill is exactly right, Haspel belongs in jail and Obama should have put her there, but thanks to him, she now looks set to be head of the CIA. Here he is on <em>Democracy NOW!</em>, saying, "<a href="https://www.democracynow.org/2018/5/10/jeremy_scahill_obama_paved_way_for/">Obama Paved Way for Haspel to Head CIA by Failing to Hold Torturers Accountable</a> [...] <font color=maroon>And, you know, Amy, the CIA is generally prohibited from engaging in operations inside of the United States, and also prohibited from engaging in propaganda aimed at the American people. And yet, to me, this whole Gina Haspel nomination really seems like a CIA operation itself. You know, the CIA, throughout history, from its origins &mdash; and this was the case with its predecessor, the OSS &mdash; has had a mastery of coups and interventions and interfering in affairs of other nations and waging propaganda battles. Gina Haspel, when she was nominated for the CIA, was the recipient of an enormous amount of support from the CIA's social media accounts, Twitter and others. And it was a propaganda campaign that was aimed at all of us, at the American people. It was aimed at lawmakers, it was aimed at journalists, where they sort of tweeted a &mdash; and they did it over and over and over, and they even did it once Haspel was technically in charge of the CIA, where they're giving her biography, making her sound like some combination of like Lara Croft, Tomb Raider, with Jack Bauer. I mean, it was really kind of incredible.</font>" <p>And here is Scahill on <em>Intercepted</em>, "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/05/09/just-following-orders/">Just Following Orders</a>: <font color=maroon>Donald Trump loves Gina Haspel, particularly because of her role in torture.</font>" (Also an interview with Matt Taibbi on "Trump, Russia, Putin, Stormy Daniels, and the Liberal Embrace of Authoritarianism," and "Reporter Sarah Jaffe on the Teachers Strikes Across the U.S., the Fight For Unions, and the Rebellion of Low Wage Workers." Good stuff, transcripts included.)<p><center><font color=magenta>* * * * *</font></center><p> <p>"<a href="https://www.truthdig.com/videos/sanders-institute-launches-voter-registration-initiative-video/">Sanders Institute Launches Voter Registration Initiative</a>: <font color=maroon>In November 2016, there were more than 224 million citizens over the age of 18 in the United States, yet only around 157 million were registered to vote. Even fewer actually voted.</font>" <p>The headline says it all: "<a href="https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2018/05/07/Oliver-North-leaving-Fox-News-to-become-next-NRA-president/5671525714352/">Oliver North leaving Fox News to become next NRA president</a>" &mdash; Yes. <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/05/12/oliver-north-nra-iran-contra/">this Oliver North</a>. <p>"<font color=maroon>There are some prisoners who have served their sentences but who refuse to leave this prison facility.</font>" Again, <a href="http://metro.co.uk/2018/05/07/prisoners-ran-illegal-diamond-mine-from-underneath-their-jail-7527284/" title="Prisoners ran illegal diamond mine from underneath their jail">the headline says it all</a>. <p>"<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/11/rakem-balogun-interview-black-identity-extremists-fbi-surveillance">Black activist jailed for his Facebook posts speaks out about secret FBI surveillance</a>: <font color=maroon>Rakem Balogun spoke out against police brutality. Now he is believed to be the first prosecuted under a secretive US effort to track so-called 'black identity extremists'</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Investigators began monitoring Balogun, whose legal name is Christopher Daniels, after he participated in an Austin, Texas, rally in March 2015 protesting against law enforcement, special agent Aaron Keighley testified in court. The FBI, Keighley said, learned of the protest from a video on Infowars, a far-right site run by the commentator Alex Jones, known for spreading false news and conspiracy theories. The reference to Infowars stunned Balogun: 'They're using a conspiracy theorist video as a reason to justify their tyranny? That is a big insult.'</font>" <p>"<a href="https://psmag.com/social-justice/how-to-organize-a-prison-strike">How To Organize A Prison Strike</a>: <font color=maroon>Organizers inside and outside of the penitentiary walls are teaming up &mdash; and getting creative &mdash; to fight for reform.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/michigan-medicaid_us_5af49fa3e4b032b10bf8c60c">There's No Good Excuse For The Racist Impact Of Michigan's Medicaid Proposal</a>: <font color=maroon>The plan's architects say they didn't mean to disadvantage black cities, but they had easy ways not to. Michigan Republicans are pushing a new, Donald Trump-inspired bill that would require Medicaid recipients in the state's mostly black cities to work to keep their health benefits, but exempt some of the state's rural white residents from the same requirement.</font> <p>David Dayen on "<a href="https://tinyletter.com/DavidDayen/letters/the-downfall-of-a-grifter">The Downfall of a Grifter</a>: <font color=maroon>I was part of a small subset of people who were infuriated by Eric Schneiderman before Monday night. So welcome to the rest of the nation for catching up. I had no idea he was a notorious alcoholic and abuser of women until the New Yorker profile. But I did witness his tendency to be a con artist, with his public persona not matching up with the private actions. Zach Carter tells this story very well so I don't have to, and the rest of it is in my book. The short version is that the guy came in making a lot of promises on taking down the banks and then sold out so he could get a good seat at the State of the Union. He wanted the glory without doing the work. In a real sense he didn't know how to do the work - the big lawsuit he filed against JPMorgan Chase right before the 2012 elections, entirely to show a pose of "getting tough" on Wall Street, was ripped off from a staffer and could have been filed years earlier. As co-chair of the vaunted "task force" on bank fraud, he never issued a single criminal subpoena.</font>" <p>Also from Dday, "<a href="https://tinyletter.com/DavidDayen/letters/american-telephone-and-telegraft">American Telephone and Telegraft</a>: <font color=maroon></font> [...] <font color=maroon>AT&T's lead lobbyist has now been encouraged to take an early retirement, and the CEO is "very sorry" any of us found out about the Cohen payment. But their real failure lies in not working the influence industry the right and honorable way. Like LiveNation did when they had Rahm Emanuel's brother on their board when they purchased Ticketmaster. Or the way American Airlines used Rahm and a bunch of other Democratic cronies to move through the USAirways merger. AT&T doesn't deserve Time Warner until they can prove they can bribe officials responsibly and effectively. That's how the game is played, Politico Playbook (sponsored by Goldman Sachs) wants you to know, and really you're very silly for thinking it outrageous. It's a cesspool but it's our cesspool.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://injusticetoday.com/how-walmart-is-helping-prosecutors-get-10-year-sentences-for-shoplifting-7d868e8b38b8">How Walmart is Helping Prosecutors Pursue 10-Year Sentences for Shoplifting</a> [...] <font color=maroon>In Tennessee, as in many states, shoplifting items under $1,000 is a misdemeanor. But, in the past few years, the Knox County district attorney's office has been prosecuting people like Lawson under the burglary statute, which under Tennessee law is defined as 'unlawfully and knowingly entering a building without the consent of the owner and committing a theft.'</font>" <p>David Menschel (@davidminpdx) <a href="https://twitter.com/davidminpdx/status/996019426553221122">tweeted</a> "<font color=maroon>In NYC, police arrest black people for marijuana at 8x the rate of white people. NYPD say this is because they get more complaint calls about marijuana in black neighborhoods, but NYT found that that was false.</font>" The story, in <em>The New York Times</em>, "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/13/nyregion/marijuana-arrests-nyc-race.html">Race Remains a Key Factor in Marijuana Arrests, Analysis shows</a>." <p>"<a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2017/10/12/colorado-bans-solitary-confinement-longer-than-15-days/">Colorado bans solitary confinement for longer than 15 days</a>: <font color=maroon>DENVER &mdash; Inmates in state prisons can't be held in solitary confinement for more than 15 days, the Colorado Department of Corrections announced on Thursday in the latest effort to overhaul a practice criticized as 'torture' by the agency's chief. The changes also require that inmates who are held in solitary confinement at the discretion of prison officials get at least four hours per day outside a cell for recreation or group classes.</font>" <p>But "<a href="https://www.denverite.com/denver-investigation-police-chief-51598/?mc_cid=6aec846040&mc_eid=5c912f4047">Denver says its top cops are now exempt from independent monitor's oversight. Here's who disagrees</a>. <font color=maroon>The city administration has told its police oversight agency to stay way from internal investigations of the police chief and sheriff, and the decision is raising eyebrows around Denver.</font>" <p>Jon Schwarz, "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/05/01/ndaa-2018-aumf-detention/">New Bipartisan Bill Could Give Any President The Power To Imprison U.S. Citizens In Military Detention Forever</a> [...] <font color=maroon>But now, incredibly enough, a bipartisan group of six lawmakers, led by Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Tim Kaine, D-Va., is proposing a new AUMF that would greatly expand who the president can place in indefinite military detention, all in the name of restricting presidential power. If the Corker-Kaine bill becomes law as currently written, any president, including Donald Trump, could plausibly claim extraordinarily broad power to order the military to imprison any U.S. citizen, captured in America or not, and hold them without charges essentially forever.</font>" <p><center><font color=magenta>* * * * *</font></center><p>Julian Assange may be a jackass, but he's also the face of the real free press, and the neocons and neoliberals all hate him and want him permanently silenced. At the moment, his former protector, the state of Ecuador, seems to be <a href="https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/05/12/assa-m12.html">hinting that it may hand him over to Britain and the US</a>. <blockquote><font color=maroon>On March 28, under immense pressure from the governments in the US, Britain and other powers, Ecuador imposed a complete ban on Assange having any Internet or phone contact with the outside world, and blocked his friends and supporters from physically visiting him. For 45 days, he has not been heard from. Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa stated in a Spanish-language interview on Wednesday that her government and Britain 'have the intention and the interest that this be resolved.' Moves were underway, she said, to reach a 'definite agreement' on Assange.</font></blockquote>If the United States government gets its hands on Assange, they might torture and even kill him, but it's fairly certain they will try to make sure he never has access to the press again. I know there are those who think Trump would like to reward Assange for helping him out in the election, but Trump doesn't actually reward loyalty or pay his debts, so that seems like a fantasy to me. And I sincerely doubt that, even if Trump decided to pardon Assange just to piss off the Clintonites, the right-wing authoritarians he surrounds himself with would let any such document land on his desk. (We know Trump can't write it himself, which is the only way I can imagine him slipping that one by them.)<p><center><font color=magenta>* * * * *</font></center><p> <p>"<a href="https://fair.org/home/how-did-benghazi-become-a-ruin-nyt-ignores-us-role-in-multiple-media/">How Did Benghazi Become a Ruin? NYT Ignores US Role &mdash; in Multiple Media</a>: <font color=maroon>New York Times Cairo bureau chief Declan Walsh went to Benghazi, Libya, which is in ruins, to find out how it got that way. 'When I went to Benghazi, I was guided by one main question: How did the city come to this?' he declares in his multimedia presentation, which combines text, audio, video and large-format photography. One thing that's not conveyed via any medium, though: Seven years ago, the United States and its allies used military force to overthrow Libya's government. The country has been in almost continual civil war since then, which you would think would be crucial in explaining 'how the city came to that.' But apparently you don't think like a New York Times bureau chief. The thing is, when President Barack Obama &mdash; egged on by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton &mdash; called for an attack on Libya, the justification they offered was that Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi would otherwise destroy Benghazi. So the fact that military intervention actually turned out to lead to the destruction of Benghazi seems like something you might want to tell Times readers, or Times consumers of multimedia, anyway.</font>" <p>Matt Stoller, "<a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/gve7v4/bigger-corporations-are-making-you-poorer">Bigger Corporations Are Making You Poorer</a>: <font color=maroon>A wave of new research shows how as corporations get bigger, the share of money out there going to actual workers declines.</font>" (Matt also did <a href="https://twitter.com/matthewstoller/status/992757642211790848">a good thread</a> full of interesting links that is unrolled <a href="https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/992757642211790848.html">here</a>.) <p>"<a href="https://medium.com/blacklivesmatter/soul-snatchers-how-the-nypds-42nd-precinct-the-bronx-da-s-office-and-the-city-of-new-york-7454a5a43924">Soul Snatchers: How the NYPD's 42nd Precinct, the Bronx DA's Office, and the City of New York Conspired to Destroy Black and Brown Lives (Part 1)</a> [...] <font color=maroon>'Stop and frisk has been banned, but police in the 42nd precinct are actually doing something far worse. They are setting quotas and goals for the number of people each officer must arrest. If you don't meet or exceed the quotas, you feel the wrath of your supervisors. Instead of rejecting the quotas, some officers are embracing them and rounding up people, particularly teenage children, for crimes they know good and well they didn't commit &mdash; locking them away sometimes for days, weeks, months, or even years at a time &mdash; then simply dismissing the charges. This isn't just a few rogue cops, but an entire precinct is doing this and they are partnering with the Bronx District Attorney's Office to make it happen. With threats, and even brute force, kids are being coerced to identify and testify against people they don't even know. Officers are terrorizing families, snatching kids out of their beds, not a few times, but dozens of times per child, sometimes arresting them on false charges, sending them to Rikers, then releasing them months later. Cops think they can do anything they want and it appears they can. Pedro is being framed. They tried to frame him over and over again before this case. And other kids are being framed too. And the kids and families who've been victimized by this scandal are hollow shells of their former selves. The Police Commissioner, the Comptroller, and the Mayor all know about this and are doing nothing.'</font>" <p>Eric Levitz in <em>New York Magazine</em>, "<a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/01/democrats-paid-a-huge-price-for-letting-unions-die.html">Democrats Paid a Huge Price for Letting Unions Die</a>: <font color=maroon>The GOP understands how important labor unions are to the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party, historically, has not. If you want a two-sentence explanation for why the Midwest is turning red (and thus, why Donald Trump is president), you could do worse than that.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>With its financial contributions and grassroots organizing, the labor movement helped give Democrats full control of the federal government three times in the last four decades. And all three of those times &mdash; under Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama &mdash; Democrats failed to pass labor law reforms that would to bolster the union cause. In hindsight, it's clear that the Democratic Party didn't merely betray organized labor with these failures, but also, itself.</font>" I think this article is too generous to Democrats, since they have also spent part of that time actively undermining unions. <p>Nathan Newman, "<a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/how-corrupt-ny-real-estate-lobbies-protect-trump-corruption_us_59132081e4b07e366cebb7b3">NY Real Estate Lobbies Protect Trump Corruption- and GOP Control of State Senate w Help of Cuomo-IDC Dems</a>: <font color=maroon>We need to break the power of corrupt NY real estate &mdash; then expose Trump money laundering, stop obscenely low luxury property taxes & end GOP control of NY Senate.</font>" <p>Rachel M. Cohen at <em>The Intercept</em>: "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/05/09/new-york-county-democratic-party-cuomo-loyalty-pledge/">Democrats In A New York County Refuse To Pledge Loyalty To Candidates Just Because Party Endorses Them</a>: <font color=maroon>A COUNTY DEMOCRATIC committee in New York voted down an extreme proposal on Tuesday night that would have required all members to pledge loyalty to candidates endorsed by the state, local, or national party. Progressives on the committee in Chemung County, on the Pennsylvania border, viewed the proposed loyalty pledge as an attempt by establishment Democrats to silence their dissent; they spent the week leading up to the meeting organizing opposition from members of the 20-person committee. At the meeting, the committee voted down the oath in its current format, but did not get rid of it entirely.</font>" <p>"<a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/04/bernie-sanders-is-quietly-building-a-digital-media-empire.html?utm_source=tw&utm_medium=s3&utm_campaign=sharebutton-t">Bernie Sanders Is Quietly Building a Digital Media Empire</a> [...] <font color=maroon>The Vermont senator, who's been comparing corporate television programming to drugs and accusing it of creating a 'nation of morons' since at least 1979 &mdash; and musing to friends about creating an alternative news outlet for at least as long &mdash; has spent the last year and a half building something close to a small network out of his office in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill.</font>" <p>Also from Eric Levitz, "<a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/05/the-media-can-be-ideologically-diverse-without-conservatives.html">The Liberal Media Can Have Ideological Diversity Without Conservatives</a>" &mdash; My main problem with this piece is that by "liberal media" he still seems to be talking about not-so-liberal organs like <em>The New York Times</em>. <p>Joe Cirincione and Guy Saperstin in <em>The Nation</em>, "<a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/progressives-need-a-new-way-to-talk-about-national-security/">Progressives Need a New Way to Talk About National Security</a>: <font color=maroon>Voters say they support cuts in defense spending &mdash; Democrats should, too.</font>" I can go along with this, but I still maintain that our real national security is economic security for everyone. <p>Zach Carter and Arthur Delaney, "<a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/2009-acorn-scandal_us_5ae23fa6e4b02baed1b86696">How The ACORN Scandal Seeded Today's Nightmare Politics</a>: <font color=maroon>Breitbart led the charge, but Democrats delivered the killing blow. Has anyone really learned?</font>" This is one of many pernicious examples of Democrats helping Republicans dismantle the progressive infrastructure that helped the party as a whole, The jury is still out on just <em>how much</em> of a creep Obama was regarding Shirley Sherrod, and whether Democrats keep voting to fund abstinence-only sex "education" out of stupidity or puritanism (or just a desire to funnel more money into the right-wing gravy train), but I still wish I could ask Bill Clinton what the hell he thought the outcome of "ending welfare as we know it" and turning the criminal justice system into a meat-grinder for minorities and the poor would be - and whether he did it out of malice or stupidity. And don't get me started on the Telecommunications Act. <p>Aalya Ahmad, "<a href="https://briarpatchmagazine.com/articles/view/working-for-the-weekend">Working for the Weekend: The labour movement should renew its demands for a shorter workweek</a>: <font color=maroon>Our communities are crumbling under capitalism and the obscene inequalities it creates. Income inequality has steadily risen in Canada over the past 20 years. The threat of climate change is becoming ever more obvious while environmental policies progress more slowly than melting glaciers. While workers in Canada are waging vital campaigns such as the Fight for $15 to improve wages for those who are paid the least, the mobilization around fairer compensation is just one part of the struggle to resist workers' exploitation. One of the oldest rallying cries of the labour movement is to reduce the time that workers spend working.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/04/27/how-clintonites-are-manufacturing-faux-progressive-congressional-campaigns/">How Clintonites Are Manufacturing Faux Progressive Congressional Campaigns</a> [...] <font color=maroon>For it seems that progressive candidates aren't the only ones who learned the lesson of Bernie Sanders in 2016; the neoliberal Clintonites have too. So, while left-wing campaigns crop up in every corner of the country, so too do astroturf faux-progressive campaigns. And it is for us on the left to parse through it all and separate the authentic from the frauds.</font>" <p>Norman Solomon at <em>Common Dreams</em>, "<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/04/25/why-dnc-fighting-wikileaks-and-not-wall-street">Why the DNC Is Fighting WikiLeaks and Not Wall Street</a>: <font color=maroon>Willingness to challenge Wall Street would alienate some of the Democratic Party's big donors.</font>" Gosh, I wonder why that is? <p>Michelle Cottle in <em>The Atlantic</em>, "<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/05/hillary-clintons-finger-pointing-show-will-cost-the-democrats/559298/">Hillary Clinton's High Profile Is Hurting the Democrats</a>: <font color=maroon>She dismisses those who tell her to step aside, but at this rate she will harm her political future and aid the GOP.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>You know how Donald Trump seems weirdly, almost pathologically, obsessed with Clinton, despite the election having occurred nearly a year and a half ago? He is not alone. The Republican base (as hosts at Fox News can attest) still hates Clinton with the heat of a thousand suns. Is that rational? No. Is it a super-effective way for the GOP to fire up its base with high-stakes midterms approaching? To quote that great political sage Sarah Palin, you betcha!</font>" <p>"<a href="https://medium.com/@EuroYankeeBlog/for-democrats-the-russian-investigation-is-not-just-patriotic-its-smart-politics-bc3afd91b252">For Democrats, the Russian Investigation Is Not Just Patriotic &mdash; It's Smart Politics</a>: <font color=maroon>After a year of #RussiaGate, the Democrats have both their base and the entire country right where they want them.</font>" Democrats and independents increasingly believe in the myths around Russiagate, including that somehow the "dank memes" of Russian bots are what swung the election for Trump (God knows how), even though there is no evidence for any of it. Oh, and it provides a platform to attack Sanders as a Russian dupe or colluder, as well. <p>"<a href="https://www.salon.com/2018/05/06/wrong-way-democrats-will-a-blue-dog-blue-wave-pave-the-way-for-future-disaster/">Wrong-way Democrats: Will a 'blue dog' blue wave pave the way for future disaster?</a>: <font color=maroon>Democrats will win big this fall (probably). But are they just repeating the mistakes of the Clinton-Obama era?</font> [...] <font color=maroon>One especially trenchant observer on this front is activist, blogger and longtime music exec Howie Klein, who has repeatedly expressed his frustration with the Democratic Party's efforts to intervene in the midterms, and the way the struggle has been covered in the media. Klein discussed the Southern California races recently on his Down With Tyranny! blog, writing that DCCC-favored candidates "are always conservatives and never independent-minded agents of change.' A day before that: 'The DCCC has 38 candidates on their Red To Blue list so far. I count three who are worth voting for &mdash' and I'm not even 100% sure about one of the three. At least nine of them are outright Blue Dogs. ... And 21 of them are admitted New Dems.'</font>" <p>Jeff Weaver has written a book, <a href="https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/wj73vz/bernie-sanders-would-have-won-and-bernie-bros-are-a-myth-says-campaign-manager-in-new-book"><em>How Bernie Won: Inside the Revolution That's Taking Back Our Country--and Where We Go from Here</em></a>. <p>Interview in <em>The Nation</em>, "<a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/thomas-frank-trump-could-win-the-2020-election/">Thomas Frank: Trump Could Win the 2020 Election</a>: <font color=maroon>But we can also stop him.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2018/04/gaius-publius-democrats-probably-will-blow-2020.html">Gaius Publius: How the Democrats Could, and Probably Will, Blow 2020</a>" <p>An Al Jazeera reporter went undercover to <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/investigations/thelobby/">look for the much-touted anti-semitism of the British left</a>, but mainly found a state-sponsored PR campaign to promote the idea that criticizing Israel's policies <em>is</em> anti-semitism. "<font color=maroon>Al Jazeera Investigations exposes how the Israel lobby influences British politics. A six-month undercover investigation reveals how Israel penetrates different levels of British democracy.</font>" <p>Jonathan Cook, "<a href="https://orientxxi.info/magazine/anti-semitism-orchestrated-offensive-against-jeremy-corbyn-in-the-uk,2446">Anti-Semitism. Orchestrated Offensive against Jeremy Corbyn in the UK</a>: <font color=maroon>For months, a campaign has been aimed at destabilising British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, accused of anti-Semitism. The right-wing party, Tony Blair's heir, and pro-Israel circles are targeting both Corbyn's left-wing line and his support for the Palestinian people.</font>" <p>I might be inclined to agree with a lot of Michelle Goldberg's "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/11/opinion/intellectual-dark-web-red-pilled.html">How the Online Left Fuels the Right</a>" if she didn't screw it up by talking about people like Ben Shapiro as if they are prepared to argue in good faith . They're not, and anyway, that's not the point. Call-out culture on the left just isn't very good at making friends, period. <p>"<a href="http://nautil.us/issue/59/connections/another-side-of-feynman">Another Side of Feynman</a>: <font color=maroon>Nine letters by Freeman Dyson portray his relationship with the Nobel Laureate.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://timeline.com/drug-mansion-psychedelic-60s-5116867d5041">This magical drug mansion in Upstate New York is where the psychedelic '60s took off</a>: <font color=maroon>Owned by one of America's richest families, Millbrook hosted Timothy Leary, Allen Ginsberg, Charles Mingus and more</font>" <p>This is a few years old but it cracked me up. "<a href="https://kitchenette.jezebel.com/a-restaurant-owner-has-been-waging-an-online-war-with-v-1739249109">One Restaurant Owner Has Been Waging An Online War With Vegans For Two Months Now</a>" <p>The Four Tops, "<a href="https://youtu.be/joqjBAJx4ZA">Baby, I Need Your Loving</a>", because sometimes I just gotta get up and dance to it.Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-20007040012418454222018-05-01T16:19:00.000+01:002018-05-01T16:19:03.563+01:00I got sunshine<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gbLLHT0baC0/WuiFOuFI5aI/AAAAAAAAB3M/0EjM6atGPykLgF6ZuvZpve76Vrd2y8L0gCLcBGAs/s1600/Bolvadin%252C%2BTurkey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gbLLHT0baC0/WuiFOuFI5aI/AAAAAAAAB3M/0EjM6atGPykLgF6ZuvZpve76Vrd2y8L0gCLcBGAs/s320/Bolvadin%252C%2BTurkey.jpg" width="320" height="320" data-original-width="640" data-original-height="640" /></a></div> <p>Read <a href="https://twitter.com/ArshyMann/status/988818797086871558">this scary thread from @ArshyMann</a>. (And, while on the one hand, I've been acutely aware, and most women at least sense, that this kind of projection exists and is dangerous to us, I admit I never would have predicted it as a proud identity.) "<font color=maroon>For the past little while, I've been working on a piece about Toronto's relationship to the alt-right, especially the "manosphere." Unfortunately that research has become relevant. I'm going to share as much as I can here for people who may not be familiar with these movements.</font>" <p>"<a href="http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2018/04/portland_burgerville_workers_a.html">Portland Burgerville workers approve federally recognized union</a>: <font color=maroon>Workers at a Burgerville in Southeast Portland overwhelmingly approved the formation of a federally-recognized union, making them the first to do so since a fast-food labor fight erupted nationally five years ago.</font>" <p>"<a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-microsoft-copyright-20180426-story.html">Electronics-recycling innovator is going to prison for trying to extend computers' lives</a>: <font color=maroon>A Southern California man who built a sizable business out of recycling electronic waste is headed to federal prison for 15 months after a federal appeals court in Miami rejected his claim that the "restore discs" he made to extend computers' lives had no financial value, instead ruling that he had infringed on Microsoft Corp. to the tune of $700,000.</font>" This is basically corporate prosecution of a private citizen to prevent him from helping people save a bit of money. <p>"<a href="https://www.citylab.com/equity/2018/04/barcelona-is-taking-over-repossessed-homes/558239/">Barcelona Forces Banks to Turn Repossessed Homes Into Affordable Housing</a>: <font color=maroon>To address a housing shortage, Spain's second city says bank-owned properties can no longer sit empty.</font>" This is a great idea and American cities should be doing the same. <p>"<a href="http://truthinmedia.com/usa-today-nearly-two-thirds-of-americans-have-given-up-on-political-parties/">USA Today: Nearly Two Thirds of Americans Have Given Up On Political Parties</a>: <font color=maroon>(IVN) Many Americans will be staying out of the voting booth for the 2018 elections, disillusioned by the promises of politicians and convinced that the political system is irreparably corrupt.</font>" <p>David Dayen says, "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/04/30/federal-job-guarantee-program-cost/">Whether America Can Afford A Job Guarantee Program Is Not Up For Debate</a>: <font color=maroon>SEN. BERNIE SANDERS'S endorsement of a guaranteed job for anyone who wants one, joining previous supporters such as Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Cory Booker, reinvigorated a debate that has been roiling within economics Twitter and academic circles for a long time. Those more partial to a universal basic income untethered to work clash with job guarantee supporters from the left; those who see the job guarantee as a dangerous slip into socialism attack from the right. And mainstream Democrats not running for the presidency don't really want to talk about it. Those fresh to the debate, meanwhile, instinctively ask what feels like an intuitive question: How on earth can we pay for that? But if we're going to have an honest debate about whether the government should be spending hundreds of billions of dollars so that people can obtain jobs, we should acknowledge that the government already does. Officials at the local, state, and federal levels push enormous amounts of money toward this stated purpose &mdash; they just channel it through corporations, in the form of special tax breaks and 'economic development' subsidies. It's not clear that businesses actually use all that money to create jobs, rather than just enjoying the subsidies and tax cuts for themselves, so if the true purpose really is to create work for people, the new jobs guarantee debate offers a much simpler &mdash; and probably much cheaper &mdash; approach to the same end.</font>" <p>It would be nice to believe they would do this stuff if they ever got back in control of Congress: "<a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/kirsten-gillibrand-postal-banking-bill_us_5ae07f9fe4b07be4d4c6feae">Kirsten Gillibrand Unveils A Public Option For Banking</a>: <font color=maroon>The idea would provide a low-cost alternative to payday loans -- and it might just save the Postal Service, too.</font>" It would also be nice to think the Dems would get rid of that stupid requirement to fund all Post Office pensions 75 years in advance, which is the very thing we have to save the Post Office <em>from</em>. <p>"<a href="https://medium.com/brepairers/speaker-ryan-firing-chaplain-conroy-is-true-attack-on-religious-liberty-6729c093623b">Speaker Ryan Firing Chaplain Conroy Is True Attack on Religious Liberty</a>: <font color=maroon>Fr. Patrick J. Conroy, a Jesuit priest who served as Chaplain to the US House of Representatives, has been fired by Speaker Paul Ryan. Though the Speaker declined to justify his action, Fr. Conroy told the New York Times that Ryan had admonished him after a public prayer for the poor, 'Padre, you just got to stay out of politics.' As clergy who, like Fr. Conroy, have taken vows to preach the Word of God, we do not see how you can read the Bible and stay out of politics. Isaiah 10 speaks directly to lawmakers: 'Woe unto you who legislate evil and rob the poor, making widows and orphans your prey.' Jeremiah received a Word from the Lord in chapter 22, saying, 'God down to the palace of the king and declare, 'Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.' These are not only the public priorities of the Hebrew prophets. In Matthew's Gospel, Jesus says he will judge nations &mdash; not individuals &mdash; by asking, 'When I was hungry, did you feed me? When I was thirsty, did you give me something to drink?' The epistle of James makes clear that God opposes anyone who prevents workers from receiving a living wage</font>..." <p>David Dayen, "<a href="https://tinyletter.com/DavidDayen/letters/ryan-s-hope">Ryan's Hope</a> [...] <font color=maroon>Nobody deserved to go out in shame more than Ryan did; I'm sad it didn't come when he lost his Speaker's gavel or, worse, when he lost his seat. (I don't buy that "see I'm popular!" poll he released showing him up 21 points on Randy Bryce, but even if it were true, a 55% re-elect for a 20-year Congressman and national leader isn't that good). He deserved to go out the way Thomas Foley did in 1994, after he was targeted by Newt Gingrich and doomed to defeat in his eastern Washington district. Ryan was a con man and a liar armed with terrible, unpopular ideas that he somehow grifted the national media into thinking were responsible. His budgets were innumerate, hiding the class warfare and mass suffering they would have caused with phony numbers. His philosophy was bankrupt, hated by those who actually divined its intentions. His concern for anyone who couldn't buy him a $350 bottle of wine was fake, and his great dream in live was to take away their safety net as they crashed to Earth. And he was actually a bad politician, swinging his home state and even his home district further away from Republicans when he became the vice presidential nominee. But make no mistake: Ryan won. His sensibilities matched the pain demands of the Washington Post editorial board, who joined his call to starve the poor. And while he didn't reach his cherished goals of crushing Social Security and Medicare, he did force a Democratic administration into the smallest percentage of public investment since the Eisenhower era. He did deliver one of the most imbalanced, gimmicky, gift-style tax cuts to corporate America in history. He did preserve most of the last giant tax cut, which was more larded on the rich. Because Washington can be amoral and stupid, Paul Ryan was seen as its one-eyed king, its boy wonder. And the inequality statistics don't lie as to his success. We'll spend the next generation burying the Ryan era.</font>" . <p>Alex Pareene, "<a href="https://splinternews.com/if-we-had-a-liberal-media-we-wouldnt-have-had-a-paul-ry-1825304484?rev=1524160016950">If We Had a Liberal Media We Wouldn't Have Had a Paul Ryan</a> [...] <font color=maroon>The sheer admiration the political press has shown for him since then can't even be explained by something like his popularity &mdash; he is deeply unpopular, almost entirely because his ideas are deeply unpopular, and that is in spite of a years-long campaign by our liberal media to launder those ideas. If longtime Washington journalists treat plans to literally end Medicare, among the most popular programs in the history of American governance, as not just 'serious' but arguably necessary, by what possible definition can the elite media be said to be 'liberal'?</font>" <p>David Dayen, "<a href="https://tinyletter.com/DavidDayen/letters/the-art-of-the-let-me-back-in-that-deal">The Art of the Let Me Back in That Deal</a>: <font color=maroon>The thing about lacking any core beliefs is that it's liberating. Donald Trump, who spent the entire presidential campaign calling the Trans-Pacific Partnership the worst trade deal ever written, now is openly musing about re-joining it. The flip-flop is rooted in desperation. Trump has managed to figure out that China's retaliatory tariffs slam farm states, and he's digging up any policy he can find to keep them happy, including going back to New Deal-era farm supports! Trump as FDR! Like I said, liberating. TPP is part of that mix, not only as an alleged opening of new markets (which it isn't, as the U.S. already has bilateral agreements with countries representing the overwhelming majority of TPP economies) but as another provocation to China, as a pretext to get them to bargain.It's also true that the TPP agreed to by the other eleven nations is substantially different than the one negotiated by President Obama, particularly on intellectual property for pharmaceuticals. That's good news for the global poor who won't be held up by multinationals for life-saving medications, but bad news for the multinationals who urged the U.S. to sign TPP. Those nations aren't interested in re-opening that can of worms, even as Trump conditioned re-entry on a "substantially better" deal. Of course, none of this is going to happen. The tariffs and this TPP play are all fodder for some negotiated settlement with China. I'm not sure that'll come about either. But Trump's not a very good bluffer. And he's betrayed the workers he incited with TPP opposition in the process. All in a day's work.</font>" <p>Oh, look, here's Steny Hoyer on video trying to <a href="https://twitter.com/Atroarturo/status/989536504186855424">elbow a progressive candidate out of the primaries</a> to clear the road for another corporate hustler of Hoyer's choosing. <br>* And here's <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/04/26/steny-hoyer-audio-levi-tillemann/">Lee Fang's story on the background of the candidates</a> and the maneuvering in the DCCC. <p>Ryan Grim, "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/04/12/dccc-national-democrats-new-york-primary/">National Democrats created a competitive primary in New York, infuriating the local party</a>. Another case where the DCCC tries to overrule the grassroots by recruiting a loser to run against their candidate. "<font color=maroon>In Syracuse, New York, a heavily Democratic city, things didn't go quite as well. The party's nominee for mayor, Juanita Perez Williams, lost in a landslide to an independent candidate, even managing to lose her own neighborhood by two to one. In some lines of work, a failure so complete might earn somebody a demotion, a period of probation, or a rethinking of whether the career path and the skillset are a perfect marriage. But this is Democratic Party politics, where consequences are for the people, not the politicians. And so, the performance earned her an invitation to the headquarters of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, touching off another intraparty saga that would go on to pit the national party against grassroots activists. Within just a few days of the loss, Perez Williams was in Washington, D.C., sitting down with top-tier Democratic operatives who saw, in her failed campaign, the makings of a promising 2018 congressional candidate.</font>" <p>Uh oh, it's the Judean People's Front versus the People's Judean Front versus the People's Front of Judea... Benjamin Studebaker, "<a href="https://benjaminstudebaker.com/2018/04/28/the-left-is-not-a-church/">The Left is Not a Church</a> [...] <font color=maroon>You know how the religious right became a big deal in the United States? It stopped acting like a bunch of churches. It stopped caring whether you were Catholic or Protestant, whether you were Evangelical or Mainline. It stopped caring if you were Mormon. It even stopped caring if you went to church. All the religious right cares about is whether your policies work for them and whether you have a realistic strategy for implementing those policies. If you're anti-abortion you can have three wives, cheat on all of them constantly, never go to church, and brag about abusing women. You can be Donald Trump. It doesn't matter. The religious right sees itself as trying to save millions of people from being brutally murdered by their own mothers. It will subordinate all petty theological disputes to the overarching goal of putting a stop to the killing. They are relentless. They take their goals seriously.</font>" <p>Ryan Grim at <em>The Intercept</em>, "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/04/18/josh-butner-congress-california-democratic-primary/">Democrat claimed independent status in election filings, but records show he was a Republican</a> [...] <font color=maroon>Butner was recruited to run in California's 50th Congressional District by the Democratic leaders, yet his progressive opponent, Ammar Campa-Najjar, has won the endorsement of the state Democratic Party and the bulk of the activist groups in the district.</font>" He has a remarkably spotty voting record, but it's all Republican. "<font color=maroon>Elsewhere around the country, the Democrat leadership's zeal for veterans to run for office has led them to back other former Republicans. In Texas's 21st Congressional District, Joseph Kopser was previously registered as a Republican, having grown up in a conservative family. In Virginia's 2nd Congressional District, the party's chosen candidate, Elaine Luria, voted for her own Republican opponent not once, but twice. Gil Cisneros, a candidate in California's 39th District, is a Navy veteran and former Republican who had registered as a Democrat in 2015, after three years as an independent. He was named on Wednesday to the DCCC's Red-to-Blue program, tantamount to an endorsement. Butner came under fire earlier in the campaign for insisted that military service should be a prerequisite for a run for Congress.</font>" <p>David Dayen and Ryan Grim, "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/04/26/california-39th-congressional-district-2018-gil-cisneros-dccc/">Democratic Party-Backed Candidate Leaves Groggy Voicemail Warning For Opponent: 'I'm Gonna Go Negative On You'</a>: <font color=maroon>WHEN KAREN THORBURN checked messages on her home answering machine on a Wednesday evening in early April, one of them was not like the others. It was a groggy-sounding voice, leaving a short but to-the-point message for her husband, Andy, who is running for Congress in California's 39th District. 'Hi Andy. It's Gil Cisneros. I'm gonna go negative on you,' the man said, before going silent for an awkward four seconds and hanging up.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee recently named Cisneros to the list of candidates it's supporting in races around the country. He is running to replace incumbent Republican Ed Royce, who is retiring. The crowded district was recently featured in a New York Times article about the party's interventions in California primaries, which the DCCC laments have been forced upon it by events outside its control. But a closer look at the district finds a mess very much of the party's own making.</font>" <p>Conor Lynch at <em>Salon</em>, "<a href="https://www.salon.com/2018/04/21/bernie-sanders-criticizes-democrats-they-flip-out-again-has-politics-become-team-sports/">Bernie Sanders criticizes Democrats, they flip out (again): Has politics become team sports?</a> <font color=maroon>Sanders' comments about Democratic failures aren't even controversial. But for some partisans, he's the enemy</font> [...] <font color=maroon>It is not so much the message but the messenger that infuriates them. It's also true, however, that the idea Sanders represents &mdash; namely, that principles should come before party, and that politics should not be treated like a team sport &mdash; is anathema to these committed partisans.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Another interesting finding in Mason's research is that those who identify as 'conservative' demonstrate 'significantly less issue-based constraint.' As she notes, this is consistent with the research of Christopher Ellis and James Stimson, who find that 'American conservatives tend to be relatively left-leaning in their issue-based preferences, while liberals also hold left-leaning attitudes.' In other words, so-called conservatives are even more likely to be driven by group identity than liberals, even though they might actually agree with liberal or progressive positions on many issues. It's no wonder, then, that Sanders, who talks about the issues and offers progressive solutions that are popular with the broader public, while avoiding overheated partisan, has appeal not just to liberals and young people in blue states but to many voters in traditionally Red states. Though identity-based ideology has grown more pervasive over the past few decades, there is still a strong underlying desire for issue-based candidates.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/04/25/hillary-clinton-email-dnc-democratic-party/">The Democratic Party is paying millions for Hillary Clinton's email list, FEC documents show</a>: <font color=maroon>HEADING INTO THE 2018 midterms, with Democrats hoping to take back the House of Representatives and even make a run at the Senate, the party has spent more than $2 million worth of campaign resources on payments to Hillary Clinton's new group, Onward Together, according to Federal Election Commission filings and interviews with people familiar with the payments. The Democratic National Committee is paying $1.65 million for access to the email list, voter data, and software produced by Hillary for America during the 2016 presidential campaign, Xochitl Hinojosa, a spokesperson for the DNC, told The Intercept. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has paid more than $700,000 to rent the same email list. Clinton is legally entitled to rent her list to the party, rather than hand it over as a gift, but in 2015, Barack Obama gave his email list, valued at $1,942,640, to the DNC as an in-kind contribution. In 2013 and 2014, OFA had similarly made in-kind contributions exceeding $3.4 million for uses of the list that cycle.</font>" Of course, the party is even more cash-strapped than it was back then. Irritatingly, the Clintonites spent months bashing Bernie Sanders for not handing over his email list for free. <p>The Pied Piper strikes again. "<a href="https://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/dems-meddle-in-wv-to-boost-ex-con-coal-baron-in-gop-senate-primary">Dems Meddle In WV To Boost Ex-Con Coal Baron In GOP Senate Primary</a>: <font color=maroon>National Democrats have been not-so-quietly hoping that controversial ex-con and coal baron Don Blankenship wins the West Virginia GOP Senate primary in a few weeks, seeing him as by far the easiest opponent for Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV). Now, they're stepping up to try to make that happen.</font>" <p>Why commercial medicine is a bad idea: "<a href="https://gizmodo.com/goldman-sachs-analysts-question-whether-curing-patients-1825244673">Goldman Sachs Analysts Question Whether Curing Patients Is Good for Business</a>." These guys talk about infectious diseases being spread by carriers like it's a <em>good</em> thing. <p>"<a href="https://www.thepileus.com/economics/3-why-we-can-always-afford-a-war/">Why we can always afford a war</a>: <font color=maroon>Patricia Pino and Christian Reilly discuss Government 'debt' and explain why politicians never ask 'how are you going to pay for it?' when it comes to war.</font>" <p>Robert Fisk at the <em>Independent</em>: "<a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/syria-chemical-attack-gas-douma-robert-fisk-ghouta-damascus-a8307726.html">The search for truth in the rubble of Douma &mdash; and one doctor's doubts over the chemical attack</a>: [...] <font color=maroon>As Dr Assim Rahaibani announces this extraordinary conclusion, it is worth observing that he is by his own admission not an eyewitness himself and, as he speaks good English, he refers twice to the jihadi gunmen of Jaish el-Islam [the Army of Islam] in Douma as 'terrorists' &mdash; the regime's word for their enemies, and a term used by many people across Syria. Am I hearing this right? Which version of events are we to believe?</font>" <p>"<a href="https://youtu.be/sUW8O8Xqx_0">American media wrong on Syria coverage</a>" &mdash; Mark Crispin Miller makes the point that while people assume that Russia Today is propaganda, Americans don't understand that the same is true of the "free press" in the United States. <p>And that goes for Britain as well, where in true MSNBC fashion, the narrative of the elites is the only one that matters at the <em>Guardian</em>, who aren't interested when a seasoned and accomplished war reporter actually goes to Douma and tries to make sense of events, only to be <a href="https://www.jonathan-cook.net/blog/2018-04-18/fisk-puts-to-test-the-free-press-myth-in-douma/">dismissed</a> like an unfounded rumor, in favor of people whose "expertise" is based on not being there and being pro-regime change. <p>"<a href="https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/04/16/eyeless-in-gaza-4/">Eyeless in Gaza</a>: <font color=maroon>Write down: I, Uri Avnery, soldier number 44410 of the Israel army, hereby dissociate myself from the army sharpshooters who murder unarmed demonstrators along the Gaza Strip, and from their commanders, who give them the orders, up to the commander in chief.</font>" <p>Poor beleaguered Andrew Cuomo is at war with the evil teachers' union. "<a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/andrew-cuomo-rips-teacher-unions-selfish-industry-article-1.2089053?cid=bitly">Andrew Cuomo rips teacher unions as selfish 'industry' more interested in members' rights than student needs</a>: <font color=maroon>A passionate Gov. Cuomo upped his war with the teacher unions on Thursday, charging that they represent themselves &mdash; not the students.</font>" It's funny how much he sounds like a Republican. I hope Cynthia Nixon wipes the floor with him She already has the <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/working-families-party-backs-cynthia-nixon-against-andrew-cuomo/">Working Families Party endorsement</a> (won with 91% of the committee vote). I never thought I'd be endorsing a candidate named "Nixon", but jeez she's good! Look at this: "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/11/nyregion/cynthia-nixon-marijuana-legalization.html">Cynthia Nixon Puts Legalizing Marijuana Front and Center of Campaign</a>: <font color=maroon>Cynthia Nixon on Wednesday made legalizing recreational marijuana the first policy plank of her campaign for governor, framing it as a necessary step toward reducing racial inequities in the criminal justice system &mdash; and, in doing so, bringing to the forefront an issue that may help her make inroads into Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's robust support among black voters.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>In a brief homemade video posted to Twitter on Wednesday, Ms. Nixon, seated in her living room, speaking over a faint but steady hum of background noise, said 80 percent of New Yorkers arrested in connection with marijuana use were black or Latino, despite roughly equal rates of use among white people and communities of color.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>The simple truth is, for white people, the use of marijuana has effectively been legal for a long time. Isn't it time we legalize it for everybody else?</font>" <p>Cuomo also hasn't been that kind to immigrants, but at least he knows he's in a fight this time around, and he's making everyone laugh with his attempts to cash in on other people's identities. "<a href="https://splinternews.com/andrew-cuomo-keeps-calling-himself-undocumented-which-1825365341">Andrew Cuomo Keeps Calling Himself 'Undocumented,' Which, Hmmm</a> [...] <font color=maroon>During a union rally last Wednesday, Cuomo proclaimed that he was 'raised by poor immigrants from South Jamaica.' (South Jamaica is a neighborhood in Queens. His father, Mario Cuomo, was born in New York, and his mother, Matilda Cuomo, was also born in New York.) A day later, the governor said in the same vein, 'I'm an Italian-American, I came from poor Italian-Americans who came here. You know what they called Italian-Americans back in the day? They called them wops. You know what wop stood for? Without papers. I'm undocumented. You want to deport an undocumented person, start with me, because I'm an undocumented person.'</font>" Well, no, it didn't, and he isn't, and his farther was the Governor of New York. <p>Meanwhile in Florida, unbelievably, "<a href="http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2018/04/patrick-murphy-and-david-jolly-want-to.html">Patrick Murphy And David Jolly Want To Insert Third Way Into The Florida Governor's Race</a>" - just what everyone wants, a "bipartisan" ticket with an "ex"-Republican and a real Republican, the ultimate DINO/RINO punch. God help us all. <p>"<a href="https://gritpost.com/health-insurers-medicare-for-all/">Health Insurers Spend $158K to Make Sure 'Blue Wave' Is Against Medicare for All</a>: <font color=maroon>Tweet In the current cycle, big health insurers have quietly donated more than $150,000 to Democrats opposed to Medicare for All legislation.</font>" <p>Tom Sullivan at <em>Hullabaloo</em>, "<a href="http://digbysblog.blogspot.co.uk/2018/04/what-else-have-they-gotten-wrong-by.html">What else have they gotten wrong?</a>" - This is really about what the GOP and libertarians and "centrists" have gotten wrong about regulations and business, but the interesting thing is that, "<font color=maroon>This month, Washington Monthly looked at a libertarian economist Alex Tabarrok of George Mason University's Mercatus Center. Tabarrok went looking for the effects of federal regulation on "economic dynamism" expecting to find support for the conservative dogma that government regulation harms the economy. He found none. What is remarkable is he published the paper anyway.</font>" <p>Branko Marcetic at <em>Jacobin</em>, "<a href="https://www.jacobinmag.com/2017/08/kamala-harris-trump-obama-california-attorney-general">The Two Faces of Kamala Harris</a>: <font color=maroon>Kamala Harris has matched every one of her progressive achievements with conservative ones.</font>" At first I was thinking, "Hm, maybe she's better than she seems...." And then I read further. <p>Teodrose Fikre, "<a href="https://ghionjournal.com/potemkin-society/">I Don't Give a Damn about the First (Insert Identity Here) CEO or President</a>: <font color=maroon>Do you know what literally repulses me these days? Hearing about the first so and so to get accepted into the exclusive club of the aristocracy. Frankly, I don't give a damn about the latest first black president or first woman CEO. Who cares! I don't know how we have arrived at this notion where we measure the wellness of humanity not based on the well being of the least of the citizenry who suffer in silence but based on the accumulation of the wealthiest among us. This annoyance of mine got revved up to full blown peeve two days ago when I heard a report of how Kamala Harris has a chance to become the first black woman president.</font>" <p>Valerie Tarico at <em>AlterNet</em>, "<a href="https://www.alternet.org/activism/progressive-infighting?src=newsletter1090888">Here's Why Some Progressives Are Tearing Each Other Apart</a>: <font color=maroon>Progressives are telling two different stories about the world we live in and the future we are trying to create. In important ways, they clash.</font>" <p>Smári McCarthy, "<a href="https://medium.com/@smarimc/universal-coverage-is-good-economics-8ea87e9d33c9">Universal coverage is good economics</a>: <font color=maroon>Healthcare costs less and performs better when societies pull together. Unfortunately, Icelandic conservatives want American inefficiencies.</font>" <p><a href="https://youtu.be/IIfKU5vYjYU">Democracy in Exile: The Rise of the Defense Intellectual w/ Daniel Bessner</a> &mdash; Really interesting interview by Michael Brooks on <em>The Majority Report </em>looking at the history of how what started as a noble goal in the wake of the Nazi horror developed into the antidemocratic force for evil that the foreign policy community is today. <p>Reminders still always needed: "<a href="https://samsmitharchives.wordpress.com/2015/04/14/6467/">How the Koch brothers helped dismantle the Democratic Party</a>: <font color=maroon>For over 20 years I have reported on the mostly unnoted role played by the Democratic Leadership Council dismantling the Democratic Party, disconnecting it from its New Deal and Great Society past and turning it into Republican Lite.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Such a partnership &mdash; between something called the Democratic Leadership Council and the Koch Brothers &mdash; goes a long way to explaining why our last two Democratic presidents have been so disloyal to their party's traditions. And why Obama is pushing something as atrocious and anti-American as the secret TPP agreement. Bipartisanship may be gone on Capitol Hill, but it's still flourishing in the checks that are written for politicians.</font>" <p>Here's a worthy project: <a href="https://twitter.com/SeanMcElwee/status/985878101321187328">putting data in the hands of advocates</a>. "<font color=maroon>Democratic party leaders believe that Americans are more conservative than they actually are, and believe that supporting progressive candidates will hurt them electorally.</font>" But the data doesn't support this belief, and apparently if legislators see that their constituents support progressive policies, they are more likely to move toward those policies. And here's the article that sums it up, from Sean McElwee at <em>Vice</em>, "<a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/bjppaa/if-democrats-listened-to-their-voters-theyd-be-moving-left?utm_campaign=sharebutton">If Democrats Listened to Their Voters, They'd Be Moving Left</a>: <font color=maroon>The Democratic base overwhelmingly supports progressive positions. It's time for the party to pay attention.</font>" <p>Jeff Spross in <em>The Week</em>, "<a href="http://theweek.com/articles/769073/bernie-sanders-conquered-democratic-party">Bernie Sanders has conquered the Democratic Party</a>: <font color=maroon>Bernie Sanders' bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016 was not universally welcomed, to put it mildly. His basic argument was that Democrats could assemble a cross-ethnic and cross-class coalition by offering big universal public programs like Medicare-for-all and free college tuition. But large portions of the party dismissed him as an interloper, a naive radical, or even just another entitled white male. Which makes developments since the 2016 election rather interesting: Quietly but steadily, the Democratic Party is admitting that Sanders was right.</font>" <p>Damon Linker, "<a href="http://theweek.com/articles/769061/why-cant-liberals-accept-truth-about-hillarys-2016-failure">Why can't liberals accept the truth about Hillary's 2016 failure?</a> [...] <font color=maroon> I have no idea if Sanders would have fared better against Trump than Clinton did. But I do know that Clinton was the worst possible person to answer the angry accusations of a populist insurgency from either the protectionist right or the socialist left. She was too much a contented representative and beneficiary of the very political and economic establishments against which Trump directed his fire. She was the Davos candidate, the woman who defied the advice of her handlers to accept six-figure speaking fees from investment banks at events where she wooed rooms full of potential donors by dreaming of a world of open borders - a world in which the last remaining businesses to pay a decent wage in the Rust Belt would be given the green light to flee in pursuit of ever-higher profits. To counter that Trump-the-corrupt-real-estate-mogul is just as much a member of the nation's economic elite misses the political point entirely. A populist defines himself by those he attacks, and Trump attacked those in power. Who did Clinton attack? The "deplorable" voters who were tempted to vote for Trump - and she did it, of course, at a big-ticket fundraiser, before a room full of wealthy liberal donors.</font>" (I didn't think this article answered the question in the title, though.) <p>BlackRock CEO Larry Fink talks a good game about <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/blackrock-ceo-larry-fink-just-sent-a-warning-to-ceos-everywhere-2018-1?r=US&IR=T">corporations taking account of their effect on the community</a>, but actions speak louder, and some say "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/17/business/blackrock-wields-its-big-stick-like-a-wet-noodle-on-ceo-pay.html">BlackRock Wields Its Big Stick Like a Wet Noodle on C.E.O. Pay</a>." <p>Umair Haque, "<a href="https://eand.co/why-were-underestimating-american-collapse-be04d9e55235">Why We're Underestimating American Collapse</a>: <font color=maroon>The Strange New Pathologies of the World's First Rich Failed State</font>" &mdash; I have to take issue with the idea that it's the "first rich failed state". All those places in the Bible that God smote were pretty big deals with lots of wealth concentrated at the top, and they failed, too. <p>Corey Pein, "<a href="http://nymag.com/selectall/2018/04/corey-pein-live-work-work-work-die-excerpt-on-web-fraud.html">'Like Selling Crack to Children': A Peek Inside the Silicon Valley Grift Machine</a>: <font color=maroon>Without rampant, unchecked fraud, I came to realize, the entire digital media business would collapse.</font>" <br>* Pein discussed this on <a href="https://youtu.be/2A7MdVG7sSY"><em>The Michael Brooks Show</em></a> <p>Now even <em>Bloomberg</em> is talking about it. "<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-17/u-s-jobs-guarantee-held-out-as-path-to-true-full-employment">U.S. Jobs Guarantee Held Out as Path to True 'Full Employment'</a>." Well, that's just true. I wonder why it's catching on. <p>Speaking of that, the neoliberals have been remarkably successful at convincing some people that the New Deal was nothing but a racist gift to white people and did nothing for black America. This would be false even if not a single penny of it went directly to any black people, since it brought a lot of money into the real economy at the lowest levels, which benefited <em>everyone</em> - but it's also not true that New Deal money <em>only</em> went directly into white people's hands. There is absolutely no question that, yes, some important parts of the New Deal blocked help for black Americans (and don't even get me started on red-lining), but even if you leave aside the fact that the programs we still have were since expanded to include them, there was also the <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/works-progress-administration">Works Progress Administration (WPA)</a>. <br>* I also found this amusingly prescient <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/library-of-congress">prediction of the future from 1967</a> at the History site. <p>Hmmm, who's leading in <a href="https://twitter.com/i/moments/985977475090927616">the latest presidential poll</a>? No surprises. (<a href="https://www.publicpolicypolling.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/PPP_Release_National_32718.pdf">Details here in this .pdf</a>.) <p><em>The Onion</em>, "<a href="https://www.theonion.com/fuming-rachel-maddow-spends-entire-show-just-pointing-w-1825017260">Fuming Rachel Maddow Spends Entire Show Just Pointing Wildly At Picture Of Putin</a>" <p>"<a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/04/20/604368999/its-the-hubble-space-telescope-s-birthday-enjoy-amazing-images-of-the-lagoon-neb">It's The Hubble Space Telescope's Birthday. Enjoy Amazing Images Of The Lagoon Nebula</a>" <p>"<a href="https://viewing.nyc/this-incredible-vintage-film-shows-a-trip-through-new-york-city-in-1911/">This Incredible Vintage Film Shows a Trip Through New York City in 1911</a>" <p>Have some fun <a href="https://boingboing.net/2018/04/11/mesmerizing-looping-animations.html">loop animations</a>. <p><a href="https://youtu.be/uCcNcHx2DpY">The Temptations My Girl Original Video Recording 1964</a>Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-41959115908295105772018-04-14T02:15:00.000+01:002018-04-17T17:37:16.640+01:00The boundaries in between <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MJuO-cQ01lc/WtFWCG6OihI/AAAAAAAAB24/Vf6ZDwFxLGwfRPsaGI7KCgTkqnaiG0kSwCLcBGAs/s1600/atom0001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MJuO-cQ01lc/WtFWCG6OihI/AAAAAAAAB24/Vf6ZDwFxLGwfRPsaGI7KCgTkqnaiG0kSwCLcBGAs/s320/atom0001.jpg" width="249" height="320" data-original-width="626" data-original-height="806" /></a></div> This is just a neat old picture of Arthur Thomson drawing direct to stencil that Rob Hansen found in someone's old photo collection. Arthur once asked me why everyone called him "ATom" in print instead of just "Atom", which is what he thought he was writing. He didn't seem to realize his signature came across that way. <p>Despite the best efforts of the Democratic leadership to protect Paul Ryan, someone is finally challenging him and, whoops! Not so safe anymore! So, not surprisingly, "<a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/paul-ryan-2018-midterms-re-election-latest-republicans-latest-polls-house-speaker-senate-a8299606.html">Paul Ryan will not seek re-election in 2018 midterms amid Republican fears of losing House and Senate</a>: <font color=maroon>The 2012 Vice Presidential candidate is said to have grown increasingly frustrated working with the president.</font>" Or maybe the fact that everyone hates him and no one wants him in office could have swayed him, and he knows he can go on to bigger things in some cushy corporate pay-back job. <p>David Dayen, "<a href="https://tinyletter.com/DavidDayen/letters/save-the-va">Save the VA</a>: <font color=maroon>The power struggle inside the Department of Veterans Affairs burst into the open this week with the firing of David Shulkin, replaced by a blank slate who served as the president's doctor. But this has been simmering for some time as a war between a Koch Brothers-funded front group that wants to privatize the VA health system, the overwhelming mass of veteran's groups that don't, and a president who doesn't know or care much about the details but is easily led. Shulkin's post-firing op-ed lays out the battle lines.</font>" <p>Dean Baker, "<a href="http://cepr.net/blogs/beat-the-press/we-win-trade-war-china-goes-generic-big-time">We Win Trade War! China Goes Generic Big Time</a>: <font color=maroon>Donald Trump has proved the skeptics wrong, it seems that the American people stand to be big winners as a result of his trade war. The Chinese government announced a major initiative to promote the manufacture and use of generic drugs. The reason this is potentially a big deal for the United States is that it could mean that China intends to push the envelope in replacing drugs protected by government-granted patent monopolies with drugs sold at free market prices. While the TRIPS provisions of the WTO do require members to respect patents and copyrights, there are flexibilities, such as compulsory licensing, to allow far more competition that what we see in the United States market.</font>" <p>"<a href="http://reverbpress.com/politics/battlegrounds/arizona-democrats-primary-republicans/">Arizona Democrats Show Up In Record Numbers, Told They're Registered Republicans</a>." This problem seems to be cropping up all over the country. Check <em>now</em> to make sure your registration is in place and correct, because an awful lot of people are finding these odd little anomalies when they go in to vote. <p>"<a href="http://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/381316-supreme-court-blocks-lawsuit-against-ariz-police-officer">Supreme Court rules police officer cannot be sued for shooting Arizona woman in her front yard</a>: <font color=maroon>The Supreme Court on Monday blocked a lawsuit an Arizona woman tried to bring against a Tucson officer who shot her four times in her front yard in May 2010. In an unsigned opinion, the court said the officer, Andrew Kisela, was entitled to qualified immunity in the shooting of Amy Hughes.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>The court's decision Monday reverses a 9th Circuit Court ruling in favor of Hughes. The lower court said Kisela had used excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment. The Supreme Court, however, said Kisela was entitled to qualified immunity because there is no prior case setting a precedent that his use of force in this situation would be excessive.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>In a scathing dissent, which Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg joined, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the court has never required a factually identical case to satisfy the 'clearly established' precedent standard. 'It's decision is not just wrong on the law; it also sends an alarming signal to law enforcement officers and the public,' she wrote. 'It tells officers that they can shoot first and think later, and it tells the public that palpably unreasonable conduct will go unpunished.'</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/03/30/texas-woman-sentenced-to-5-years-in-prison-for-voting-while-on-probation/?utm_term=.e1f0b6ec23c6">Texas woman sentenced to 5 years in prison for voting while on probation</a>: <font color=maroon>If she had known it was illegal, Crystal Mason said she would have never cast a vote in the 2016 presidential election.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://medium.com/@TonyGreenstein/the-growing-divorce-between-american-jewish-youth-and-israel-e883346ba6c6">The Growing Divorce Between American Jewish Youth and Israel</a> [...] <font color=maroon>When you find that those in society who are most anti-Semitic, like neo-Nazi Richard Spencer of the alt-Right, Steve Bannon, Le Pen, Geert Wilders, Nick Griffin of the BNP, Pastor John Hagee and assorted racists and fascists all love Israel whilst, at the same not liking Jews then it begins to occur to young Jews that Israel is not all that it is cracked up to be. In addition a Jewish state suggests that Jews don't belong in America. It is therefore not surprising that in this survey of the Bay Area district in California, only 11% of Jews between 18 and 34 were ‘very attached to Israel'. Even better only 40% of young American Jews are ‘comfortable with the idea of a Jewish state.' It is becoming ever clearer that it isn't Jews but racist non-Jews who most love Israel. In Fire & Fury it describes how Jared Kushner felt Steve Bannon's support for Israel was a cover for his anti-Semitism. Today the normal response from anti-Semites is that they love Israel. </font>" <p>Glenn Greenwald at <em>The Intercept</em>, "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/03/31/the-500000-gofundme-charity-campaign-for-wealthy-ex-fbi-official-andrew-mccabe-is-obscene/">The $500,000 GoFundMe Charity Campaign for Wealthy Ex-FBI Official Andrew McCabe Is Obscene</a>" &mdash; It's a bad joke when "The Resistance" makes heroes of security state agents who have not been acting in our best interests and even turns them into "our" charity beneficiaries when real poverty and desperation are going unaddressed - and should be what we are focused on. <p>Matt Taibbi in <em>Rolling Stone</em>, "<a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/taibbi-piketty-study-is-two-party-system-doomed-w518585">Is the Two-Party System Doomed?</a> <font color=maroon>A new study shows us what observation should already have made clear: a messy restructuring of America's political parties is coming</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Papers like Piketty's are a warning that if the intellectuals in both parties don't come up with a real plan for dealing with the income disparity problem before someone smarter than Donald Trump takes it on, they're screwed. Forget nativists vs. globalists. Think poor vs. rich. Think 99 to 1. While Washington waits with bated breath for the results of the Mueller probe, it's the other mystery &mdash; how do we fix this seemingly unfixable economic system &mdash; that is keeping the rest of the country awake at night.</font>" <p>"<a href="http://thehill.com/policy/international/381125-sanders-condemns-killing-of-palestinian-protesters">Sanders condemns killing of Palestinian protesters</a>: <font color=maroon>The killing of Palestinian demonstrators by Israeli forces in Gaza is tragic. It is the right of all people to protest for a better future without a violent response.</font>" <p>Mehdi Hasan in <em>The Intercept</em>, "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/04/02/israel-killing-palestine-civilian-liberal-humanitarian/">Israel Kills Palestinians and Western Liberals Shrug. Their Humanitarianism Is a Sham</a>. <font color=maroon>'IF THE CONCEPT of intervention is driven by universal human rights, why is it &mdash; from the people who identify themselves as liberal interventionists &mdash; why do we never hear a peep, a word, about intervening to protect the Palestinians?' That was the question I put to the French philosopher, author, and champion of liberal (or humanitarian) interventionism, Bernard-Henri Lévy, on my Al Jazeera English interview show 'Head to Head' in 2013. The usually silver-tongued Levy struggled to answer the question. The situation in Palestine is 'not the same' as in Syria and 'you have not all the good on one side and all the bad on the other side,' said Levy, who once remarked in reference to the Israeli Defense Forces, or IDF, that he had 'never seen such a democratic army, which asks itself so many moral questions.' I couldn't help but be reminded of my exchange with the man known as 'BHL' this past weekend, as I watched horrific images of unarmed Palestinian protesters at the Gaza border being shot in the back by the 'democratic army' of Israel. How many 'moral questions' did those Israeli snipers ask themselves, I wondered, before they gunned down Gazan refugees for daring to demand a return to their homes inside the Green Line? On Friday, the IDF shot an astonishing 773 people with live ammunition, killing 17 of them. Yet a spokesperson for the IDF bragged that Israeli troops 'arrived prepared' and 'everything was accurate. ... We know where every bullet landed.' On Sunday, Israel's hawkish defense minister, Avigdor Lieberman, roundly rejected calls from the European Union and the United Nations for an independent inquiry into the violence and insisted that 'our soldiers deserve a commendation.'</font>" <p><em>Haaretz</em>, "<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/debunking-israel-s-talking-points-on-deadly-gaza-protests-1.5963880">Debunking Israel's Talking Points on Deadly Gaza Protests</a>: <font color=maroon>To understand why Gazans are willing to pit their bodies against an army, peel away the political positioning on all sides</font>." <p><em>Forbes</em>, "<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/eriksherman/2017/07/14/most-house-democrats-just-voted-for-a-defense-budget-far-bigger-than-trumps/amp/">60% Of House Democrats Vote For A Defense Budget Even Bigger Than Trump's</a> [...] <font color=maroon>There are currently 240 Republicans and 194 Democrats in the body, with 1 vacancy. Out of the Republicans, 227 voted in favor and 8 voted against this bill, making 230, with 10 apparently missing in action. Of the 194 Democrats, 117 voted for the bill and 73 voted against, with 4 not voting. In other words, of the party that supposedly opposes rampant military spending and the Trump administration, 60% voted for this bill.</font>" Most of this article is of the "We spend too much on the military and not on other things" school, but the point still stands: Democrats are making a pretty poor showing of being "The Resistance". Maybe they should call themselves, "The Assistance". <p><center><font color=magenta>* * * * *</font></center><p><p>I'm not even going to describe the latest crazy "Bernie is a racist" crap that emanated from his panel with Mayor Lumumba, but it was actually a really good event and well worth watching, especially if you've been hearing the nonsense about what he said. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/newsms.fm/videos/1670470053044693/">U.S Senator Bernie Sanders and Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba Town Hall Meeting 'Examining Economic Justice 50 Years Later'</a>. Strangely, this entire crowd of mostly black people in an 85% black city were unable to detect the terrible racism of Sanders when he pointed out that the Democratic Party screwed up. (Warning: There's a lot of stuff in the beginning that doesn't really have clear audio but isn't actually part of the discussion, which doesn't start until about the 25-minute mark.) <p>Briahna Joy Gray was there, and what she saw is very different from what the Twitter trolls, the H8%, were saying about it. "<a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/04/what-really-happened-when-bernie-sanders-went-to-mississippi.html">Bernie Sanders in the Deep South</a>: <font color=maroon>Last week, I joined Bernie Sanders in Memphis, Tennessee, and Jackson, Mississippi, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination. Sanders was overwhelmingly well received by both passersby and the local audiences who came to hear him speak. But so far, the media coverage of his trip has revolved around a brief aside, in which Sanders faulted the Democratic Party for its recent legislative failures</font> [...] <font color=maroon>In fact, if Beale Street could talk, it would tell a very different story about Bernie Sanders than the now-familiar critique that he is insufficiently sensitive to racial issues. As I walked with Sanders down Memphis's famous thoroughfare, his popularity, including among the predominantly black crowd attending the commemorative festivities, was self-evident. The senator was stopped every few feet by selfie-seekers and admirers. Yes: Perhaps this is to be expected of any politician with a national profile, but given his poor showing in Mississippi during the 2016 Democratic primary, in which he secured less than 17 percent of the black vote, I had thought the senator and his small cohort might go unnoticed. I was wrong.</font>" <p>There is, however, one worrying thing going around where Bernie really put his foot in it, and frankly, I'm very surprised that he didn't already know it. It happened three years ago but I never <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/rubycramer/bernie-sanders-revolution-needs-black-voters-to-win-but-can">heard this until now</a>: "<font color=maroon>In a September meeting with Campaign Zero, a movement formed out of the Ferguson protests, activists asked Sanders why, in his opinion, there were a disproportionate amount of people of color in jail for nonviolent drug offenses. Sanders, seated across the table, a yellow legal pad at hand, responded with a question of his own, according to two people present: 'Aren't most of the people who sell the drugs African American?' The candidate, whose aides froze in the moment, was quickly rebuffed: The answer, the activists told him, was no. Even confronted with figures and data to the contrary, Sanders appeared to have still struggled to grasp that he had made an error, the two people present said.</font>" That seems like shocking ignorance, but illegal drugs have never been his issue so I suppose it's not surprising that he never thought it through, but of course, the reason there are more arrests of black people for drugs is that the police go after black people for drugs, and carefully avoid confronting kids in white suburban neighborhoods where there is far more dealing and using going on. So I put a <a href="https://twitter.com/Avedon_Says/status/983465726211186689">simple little primer thread</a> up on Twitter. I hope it comes to his attention. <p>PS. I could only find a record of three politicians who endorsed Jesse Jackson when he ran for president. Two were US Senators, Paul Wellstone (D-MN) and Ernest Hollings (D-SC). The third was the Mayor of Burlington, VT, Bernie Sanders. Jackson won 55% in the Michigan primary and was the frontrunner until Dukakis pulled ahead, but the media was so quiet about Jackson's momentum that you never would have guessed he was in the running. <p>PPS. The canard that Sanders never released his taxes is still going around amongst the Clintonati. <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-elections/bernie-sanders-publishes-tax-returns-showing-205000-earnings-following-hillary-clintons-challenge-a6986951.html">It's not true</a>. Note the date on the article is 16 April. <p><center><font color=magenta>* * * * *</font></center><p> <p>On <em>The Majority Report</em>: <br><a href="https://youtu.be/-z-gncKujmk">The Rise of the Working-Class Shareholder w/ David H. Webber - MR Live - 3/29/18</a> <p>On <em>The Michael Brooks Show</em>: <br><a href="https://youtu.be/f8DV3UnLgeY">TMBS - 34 - Lee Carter: Socialist Win in Virginia; Hitchens Right, Harris Wrong on Bell Curve</a> <p>Matt Bruenig at <em>Jacobin</em>, "<a href="https://jacobinmag.com/2018/03/libertarian-property-ownership-capitalism">How Did Private Property Start?</a> <font color=maroon>Libertarians tend to get flummoxed when confronted with this simple question. Perhaps the most interesting thing about libertarian thought is that it has no way of coherently justifying the initial acquisition of property. How does something that was once unowned become owned without nonconsensually destroying others' liberty? It is impossible. This means that libertarian systems of thought literally cannot get off the ground. They are stuck at time zero of hypothetical history with no way forward.</font>" <p>The usual suspects have been claiming that high-schooler David Hogg is against the Constitution because he wants restrictions on guns after seeing his fellow students shot to death. But their view of the 2nd Amendment is extremely modern and is not how it was interpreted until very recently. In fact, even the Supreme Court's ruling in <em>Heller</em> (2008) <a href="http://bigthink.com/risk-reason-and-reality/the-supreme-court-ruling-on-the-2nd-amendment-did-not-grant-an-unlimited-right-to-own-guns">did not grant an unlimited right to own and bear arms</a> (although this article completely misconstrues "the common defense" as being against "tyrannical governments", which it wasn't - taking up arms against the U.S government was clearly defined as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_Three_of_the_United_States_Constitution#Section_3:_Treason">treason</a> in the Constitution). George Washington had become acutely aware that unregulated and untrained militias were pretty useless for repelling invaders, which is what the 2nd Amendment's language is about and was always interpreted to mean prior to <em>Heller</em>. Moreover, <a href="https://theconversation.com/five-types-of-gun-laws-the-founding-fathers-loved-85364">English common law continued to be the rule where gun ownership and carry were concerned</a>. <p>Zaid Jilani and Ryan Grim at <em>The Intercept</em>, "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/03/30/dan-lipinski-marie-newman-no-labels-illinois-primary-election/">Centrist Group Backed Anti-Abortion, Anti-LGBT Rep. Lipinski Because His Opponent Supported Bernie Sanders, Emails Reveal</a>: <font color=maroon>EARLIER THIS YEAR, Rep. Dan Lipinski, D-Ill., was facing a surprisingly robust primary challenge from Marie Newman, a progressive Democrat backed by some of the many constituencies that Lipinski has clashed with over the years. Lipinski represents a solidly Democratic seat, but has become one of the most conservative Democrats in the House, with his opposition to legal abortion and hostility toward marriage equality and immigration rights. Eventually, Lipinski narrowly defeated Newman in the March 20 primary &mdash; thanks in part to support from the centrist political alliance No Labels. Lipinski is a member of the group's House Problem Solvers Caucus, an informal collection of representative who work to, well, solve problems.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Jacobson replied with her reasoning for the group's intervention, explaining that part of the opposition to Newman was related to her endorsement by Bernie Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont. 'I see a whole new crop of Democratic challengers &mdash; like Marie Newman &mdash; who see Bernie &mdash; WHO IS NOT EVEN A DEMOCRAT &mdash; as a model worthy of emulation,' Jacobson wrote, all-caps in the original, denigrating Sanders for not labeling himself a Democrat. 'But I don't think we need more people in Congress on either side who rile up their bases and then actually achieve nothing.'</font>" <p>Ralph Nader in <em>Lapham's Quarterly</em>, "<a href="https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/rule-law/land-lawless">Land of the Lawless: How power in America has turned the rule of law into a mere myth</a>" <p>Since the Hillbots are still polluting Twitter with Barney Frank's bitter smear of Bernie Sanders, it's time for another round of Richard Eskow's retort, "<a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/rj-eskow/barney-vs-bernie-sanders_b_9624560.html">Barney vs. Bernie: Sanders Is the Real 'Progressive Who Gets Things Done'</a>." <p>A few of Joe Kennedy III's other "missteps" have been around the net, but it hasn't stopped "The Resistance" from listing him as a possible contender to run in 2020. I hope no one forgets that he thinks <a href="https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2018/03/30/25976878/the-great-white-nope-joe-kennedy-iii-disqualifies-himself">marijuana should be illegal so the cops can search people's cars without a good reason</a>. That's two bad positions at once. He's also "<a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/02/can-joe-kennedy-iii-have-it-all">embraced Bernie Sanders's Medicare for All as a vision but dismissed it as practical policy</a>, <font color=maroon>saying, 'much as people don't love incrementalism, this is I think how part of this debate is going to go.'</font>" Other things Kennedy does not appear to support are higher taxes on Wall Street, free college, and addressing voting rights. <p>"<a href="https://www.alternet.org/drugs/portuguese-model-decriminalization-drugs-american-activists-culture-shock">What It's Like for an American Drug Reformer to Go to a Country with a Compassionate System</a> [...] <font color=maroon>Welcome to Portugal. The country's low-key, non-headline-generating drug policy, based on compassion, public health, and public safety, is a stark contrast with the U.S., as the mind-boggled response of the activists suggests.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/mar/30/congress-online-sex-trafficking-bill-impact-sex-workers-craigslist">Scrubbed clean: why a certain kind of sex is vanishing from the internet</a>: <font color=maroon>A US government effort to fight online sex trafficking has cleansed many sites of personal ads and consensual eroticism, in a shift advocates say amounts to dangerous censorship.</font>" <p>RIP: <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/apr/02/steven-bochco-creator-of-hill-street-blues-dies-at-74"><b>Steven Bochco</b>, creator of Hill Street Blues, dies at 74</a>." Some people say he remade television by giving his characters story arcs at a time when other evening television shows were always stand-alone episodes where the characters and settings always went back to zero in time for next week's show. <p>RIP: "<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-43621112"><b>Winnie Madikizela-Mandela</b>: Anti-apartheid campaigner dies at 81</a>." She also disturbed some people by talking about sexism. Fancy that. <p><a href="http://unusualplaces.org/just-enough-room-island/">Just Enough Room Island</a> &mdash; If it gets decent internet and easy food deliveries, I'm in for the view. <p>"<a href="http://themindcircle.com/alaska-airlines/">Alaska Airlines Delayed Their Flight So Passengers Could See Something Breathtaking</a>" &mdash; a total eclipse, from the air. <p><a href="https://twitter.com/Steampunk_T/status/981305388338425862">Paris Steampunk 1889 LEGO Project by Castor Troy</a> <p>This is nice: <a href="https://www.google.com/doodles/dr-maya-angelous-90th-birthday">Google Doodle for Maya Angelou's 90th birthday</a><br>* And, elsewhere... "<a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/30/maya-angelou-sex-work_n_5419402.html">The Erasure of Maya Angelou's Sex Work History</a>" <p>Damn, I can't find the song I wanted on the internets, so have <a href="https://youtu.be/DEzH2gvC_gc?list=PL94gOvpr5yt0VBWukoLVBvheRa_sh1iot">some P.F. Sloan</a>. Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-12698219495623744232018-03-30T03:11:00.001+01:002018-03-30T03:11:12.796+01:00You're gonna reap just what you sow<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-i9dDP3-bc_g/Wr2cnzhgnQI/AAAAAAAAB2I/_DFju5i_kZ8YD4LThe2tmxefoO8LT6dlgCLcBGAs/s1600/volcano.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-i9dDP3-bc_g/Wr2cnzhgnQI/AAAAAAAAB2I/_DFju5i_kZ8YD4LThe2tmxefoO8LT6dlgCLcBGAs/s320/volcano.gif" width="320" height="165" data-original-width="800" data-original-height="413" /></a></div> <em>So, I was watching this conversation where everyone was talking about "Republicans" and how awful they and their ideology are. And, I admit, I have started to get a little irritated with that discussion because it doesn't seem to me that covers the ground. So I asked a question:</em><p>Are you talking about rank-and-file Republicans who identify as "conservative" mainly because they (a) are lifelong-Republicans and (b) think of themselves as "sensible", having absorbed a lot of misleading rhetoric that sounds good on the surface, or are you talking about the Congressional delegation and their political manipulators? <p>When I look at the polls, what I see is that a substantial percentage of people who identify as "Republican" or "conservative" are actually fairly mainstream and: <br>&bullet; a) want government to do the same things we want it to do &mdash; keep the air and water clean, provide disaster relief, take care of our veterans, educate our kids, provide Social Security (most oppose cutting it), maintain infrastructure, etc. <br>&bullet; b) recognize that Democrats have not been doing these things and are hypocritical about caring about or providing for these things. And, yes, that includes racial issues, which Democrats may give a lot of lip-service to but actually work in the other direction to exacerbate. <br>&bullet; c) are confused about how to accomplish these goals because they've heard a lot of rubbish &mdash; most off it carried as much by Democrats as by Republicans &mdash; about why these things aren't being done. <p>When you talk to most ordinary Republicans, what you find is that they believe a lot of the same lies you'll hear from Democratic leaders. (Did you catch Kamala Harris responding to a call to abolish ICE by talking about how we <a href="https://youtu.be/NPN64qS3hB8">need people to deal with violent crime</a>? &mdash; as if that wasn't already handled by the police?) Most egregiously, Democrats continue to behave like the Budget Act is some sort of Constitutional or even natural law that can't be changed. <em>Everyone</em> (even Bernie Sanders, who must know better) talks like there is a finite amount of money available and we have to balance our checkbook. We "can't afford" nice things. Health care is "a pony". (By the way, I looked this up: At the cost of most people's annual premiums, they could buy several ponies a year and many people could get a pony at least monthly.) <p>Conservatives want to keep the good things they have &mdash; or had &mdash; and don't want to "innovate" them away. I know a lot of Democrats who consider themselves liberal like to think that all they are unhappy about losing is something called "white privilege", but a lot of black people have also seen many good things "modernized" out from under them &mdash; like having their homes stolen, facing a job market that barely even offers <em>bad</em> jobs to people, let alone decent work. The fact that something unfair happens more often to black people than to white people doesn't mean it is somehow "fairer" when it happens to white people. If it's okay for it to happen to white people, then why isn't it okay if it happens to black people? The fact is, the sense of unfairness is natural and legitimate and <em>everyone</em> feels this way about these things when they see them happening to themselves and their friends, and they shouldn't be happening to <em>any</em> people. Here is your choice: Work three jobs to maintain your home, let your kid enlist in the military and come back broken or in a box. These didn't used to be our choices and a lot of people can still remember that. Some are even aware that Democratic Presidents made great strides in making these things become our choices and making sure no one did anything to stop it. Carter, Clinton, and Obama were supposed to ameliorate the damage but instead eased the progression downward. <p>People say they are "fiscal conservatives" because they think they understand that there is only so much money to go around and we have to "tighten our belts" on some things so we can do the things that have to be done. Although, to some, endless wars are the only thing that "have to" be done, many others assume that the better things that have to be done are what's consuming our resources and we just have to cut something else out. <p>At the top end, though, there are plenty of people who understand that it's all rhetoric and what they want is power and control. They don't just want to protect themselves, they want to make other people squirm, they want to make decent people have to beg them for any kind of mercy, for jobs, for a few crumbs. They like being able to put people in a tight spot so they have to agree to things they find morally repugnant in order to make a crust. They like being able to screw people gratuitously just to see them realize there is nothing they can do about it. And they also know that given the opportunity, increasing numbers of their victims would cheerfully kill them in their beds, so they like having a large, militarized police force to make sure they can't do that. They even like selling products and having policies that kill and imprison them so there are fewer of them in a position to do so. <p>And there is a class of people just under them who have internalized the kiss-up/kick-down nature of success in such a system and they have cast their lot with the bullies on top. And some of them are the Democrats who run the party. And if you listen to them, they sound an awful lot like the bullying Republicans, even though they may couch it in finer language (or, like Rahm Emanuel, don't). We have spent decades hearing it, every time they say, "Where else are they gonna go?" They love making us vote for them just because the only other option is even worse. They <em>laugh</em> when they say it. <p>I look at some of the things my liberal friends say on Facebook and I'm often appalled at the meanness and human insensitivity of what they say. Yes, they really <em>do</em> sound like they believe men and white people are not entitled to an opinion. Yes, they really do seem to think that only they suffer ordinary human discomforts during the day. Yes, they really do gleefully celebrate that poor people in the south who may have voted for Trump, maybe didn't vote &mdash; or, a fact they seem to ignore, may even have voted for Clinton &mdash; will suffer because their states voted red. <p>I was working on the city desk at the Baltimore Sun when David Simon came to work there. They sat him right next to me. And Baltimore was still a nice city to live and work in, back in those days, even if you were black. Our black reporters were not coming in reporting racist indignities that were foisted on them constantly. The maids who were the mothers of my friends were not worrying that their kids were going to get shot just walking to the corner shop, and they expected their kids' lives to have opportunities, to be better than theirs had been. And those kids were not walking around fearfully, terrified that they'd come to the attention of a cop. They were, just like the white kids, looking to choose between the opportunities that were on offer to them. It took very few years of Reagan and then Clinton to change that. I did not recognize the Baltimore David Simon wrote about. I had walked down those streets and they were not like that. Comfortable, clean, middle-class black neighborhoods with pristine front stoops now just look like part of some nightmare. That's not progress. <p>Do not tell me that we keep taking steps forward. And don't tell me we have "incremental change" for the better. We have had rapid change for the worse on almost every measure. <p>Ordinary liberal Democrats know the Republican leadership are liars. But what they don't get is that ordinary mainstream Republicans <em>also</em> know that Democratic leaders are liars. Republicans are less likely than ever to hide their cruelty, but Democrats still try to convince themselves, or at least their voters, that they are not also being cruel. <p>Supposedly "liberal" Democrats gave us the Budget Act. <p>Supposedly "liberal" Democrats ended "welfare as we know it" and made it normal to imprison school kids for what used to be minor infractions, privatized prisons, created Three Strikes, militarized the police, destroyed banking regulations that had prevented another depression, allowed banks to steal people's homes with impunity and virtually wiped out most black wealth. <p>Democrats lied all the time about what they were doing, what needed to be done, what they would do, what couldn't be done, and what the results would and must be. That's why they keep being voted out. <p>What's the ideology of the Democratic Party? From what I can see, it's just, "Vote for Democrats." <p><center><font color=magenta>* * * * *</font></center><p> <p>Bernie Sanders' <a href="https://youtu.be/-EV8XfM9CZo">Inequality in America: A National Town Hall</a>, with Senator Elizabeth Warren, economist Darrick Hamilton, and filmmaker Michael Moore, wasn't too bad, but the audio on the video clips wasn't very clear. Also, the lead-in to the video takes about five minutes, which is just barely enough time to turn it on and make popcorn before it actually starts. <p>"<a href="https://boingboing.net/2018/03/21/united-working-families.html">In Chicago primaries, a string of defeats for the Democratic establishment at the hands of progressive Democrats</a>: <font color=maroon>Four Democratic challengers backed by United Working Families (linked with the progressive Working Families Party) have successfully challenged establishment Dems backed by Chicago's legendarily unassailable "Democratic machine," effectively winning their offices at the same time, because the Democrat candidate always gets elected to those offices, thanks to Republicans not bothering to field candidates (leaving a vacuum that is sometimes filled by Holocaust-denying Illinois Nazis).</font> [...] <font color=maroon>It's not all good news, though. Dan Lipinski kept his candidacy, despite having inherited his Congressional seat from his father and having voted against a $15 minimum wage, against abortion on demand, for mass surveillance and endless war, and against basic railroad safety rules that would have affected one of his largest campaign donors, a rail industry PAC. Lipinski was being challenged by Marie Newman, who ultimately outraised him with small-money donations from Sanders Democrats, and who lost the primary by a razor-thin margin. That's something of a victory -- Lipinksi had been considered unassailable and he only won by a handful of votes -- but it still seems like Lipinski will return to Congress as a Democrat-in-name-only. But the closeness of the race may inspire other primary challengers to establishment Dems in other seemingly unassailable positions.</font>" She came so close to beating him it almost breaks your heart, but I bet it scares the hell out of the alt-center. Or &mdash; wait! &mdash; <a href="https://youtu.be/moG6dq4FpAc" title="in Illinois' Will County, the vote tally suddenly flipped from 7112 votes for Marie Newman to only 4212 votes">is that what really happened</a>? Marie Newman was ahead until her vote-count suddenly went <em>down</em> rather than up. How does that happen? Shades of Volusia County, FL. <p>Naturally, there have been a spate of yet more articles insisting that the way to win is "moderate" campaigns, but <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/03/21/democrats-progressive-policies-swing-districts/">Polling shows running on progressive policies would work in swing districts</a>. <p>OWN GOAL: "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/03/07/laura-moser-race/">Labor Rallies Behind Laura Moser After She Overcomes Party Effort To Stomp Out Her Congressional Bid</a>." After the DCCC's bizarre attacks on Moser's primary bid, voter reaction buoyed her candidacy into the runoff. <p>Jeff Hauser and Kurt Walters in <em>The Hill</em>, "<a href="http://thehill.com/opinion/finance/380180-17-senate-dems-broke-their-contract-with-their-voters#.Wrk7HntlOos.twitter">17 Senate Dems broke their contracts with their voters</a> [...] <font color=maroon>Needless to say, a third of Senate Democrats siding with Trump to deregulate big banks damages the credibility of this message. And let's not kid ourselves about what's going on: They're voting for the bill, raising money from the industry and hoping no one notices. Schumer himself bears a great deal of responsibility, and progressives rightly suspect him of actually wanting the bill to pass. He voted against it but didn't fight against it either. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a member of Schumer's leadership team, no less, came under withering attack from fellow Democrats for having the audacity to inform the American public which members of the Senate voted for S. 2155.</font>" <p>As we may recall, George H.W. Bush referred to the Cheney-Rumsfeld crew as "the crazies" &mdash; maybe okay to do some work and fill some spots, but not the sort of people you'd put in charge of policy. His son put them in charge of policy, but they had their own fringies who were useful for some things but not people you wanted making decisions. One of their most significant crazies was John Bolton. But none of the people who were mad enough, credulous enough, or just plain stupid enough to support the invasion of Iraq have paid a price for it. That fact doesn't please Ryan Cooper any more than it should please the rest of us. "<a href="http://theweek.com/articles/762720/why-america-asking-more-wars">Why America is asking for more wars</a> [...] <font color=maroon>After the Iraq cataclysm, what America desperately needed was an honest debate about its bloody imperial bungling. What we got was, by and large, a lot of evasive mumbling about how "no one could have predicted," and how we need to "turn the page" and "look forward, not backward." The result is a Republican administration full of people who would still be in prison for war crimes in a country that took the rule of law seriously, and an opposition party too full of idiots and/or cowards to present a united front against war. Just last week, 10 Senate Democrats provided the crucial swing votes that allowed Trump to keep backstopping the genocidal Saudi war in Yemen. I have little confidence there will be a party-wide attempt to stand up to Bolton and Trump when the time comes.</font> <p>Ari Berman in <em>Mother Jones</em>, "<a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/03/kris-kobach-just-got-humiliated-in-federal-court/">Kris Kobach Just Got Humiliated in Federal Court</a>: <font color=maroon>The Kansas secretary of state wanted to prove his claims of widespread voter fraud. Instead, he was repeatedly embarrassed.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://splinternews.com/capitalism-eats-a-co-op-1823888032">Capitalism Eats a Co-op</a> [...] <font color=maroon>True Value is a chain of more than 4,000 hardware stores around the world. It is a cooperative, meaning simply that it is collectively owned by the individual retail store owners, rather than being owned by, for example, a faceless outside investment firm who cares about nothing but the bottom line. This does not mean that True Value hardware is the vanguard of the socialist revolution, but it does go to show that a thoroughly middle American company can operate at large scale, for many decades, under a decentralized cooperative ownership model. It is simply a living demonstration of the fact that capitalism need not operate in its most rapacious and inhuman form; it can, instead, with collective agreement, be operated in a somewhat less horrible way, in which individual small business owners are empowered. Ah... cancel that. True Value has been sold to a private equity firm.</font>" <p>Sarah Jones at <em>The New Republic</em>, "<a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/147619/pinkertons-still-never-sleep">The Pinkertons Still Never Sleep</a>: <font color=maroon><em>The notorious union-busting agency has resurfaced in a telecommunications labor dispute, revealing how it has adapted to the 21st century.</em> Workers at the telecommunications company Frontier Communications have been on strike for 20 days in West Virginia and Virginia. Their grievances are familiar ones: Workers want more protection from layoffs, better health care coverage, and the return of contracted work to the bargaining unit. The workers' union, Communications Workers of America, says the company is refusing to meet workers even part-way and has brought in replacement workers, or scabs. Furthermore, Frontier has hired some muscle: the Pinkertons.</font> <p>In the <em>Independent</em>, "<a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/roger-waters-pink-floyd-israel-boycott-ban-palestine-a6884971.html">Roger Waters: Pink Floyd star on why his fellow musicians are terrified to speak out against Israel</a>: "<font color=maroon>If they say something they will no longer have a career - I have been accused of being a Nazi and an anti-Semite.</font>" <p>David Dayen in <em>The Nation</em>, "<a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/how-mortgage-companies-might-finally-be-held-accountable/">How Mortgage Companies Might Finally Be Held Accountable</a>: <font color=maroon>A former congressman has come up with an ingenious new approach. Brad Miller's been tracking his particular white whale for over a decade. But he hadn't found the right harpoon with which to slay it. Until last week. Miller is a former congressman from North Carolina, who co-authored the legislation creating the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Since leaving Congress, he's been working on litigation to finally bring to justice the mortgage companies that damaged millions of lives during the foreclosure crisis. And last week, he filed an innovative lawsuit against Ocwen, one of the nation's largest mortgage-servicing companies. (A servicer operates as an accounts-receivable department for home loans. This is the company you make your check out to.)</font> <p>Shuan King at <em>The Intercept</em>, "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/03/20/larry-krasner-philadelphia-da/">Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner Promised a Criminal Justice Revolution. He's Exceeding Expectations</a>. <font color=maroon>WHEN LIFELONG CIVIL rights attorney Larry Krasner was elected in a landslide this past November to become the new district attorney of Philadelphia, to say that his fans and supporters had high hopes would be an understatement. Anything less than a complete revolution that tore down the bigoted and patently unfair systems of mass incarceration would be a severe disappointment. Across the country, talking the talk of criminal justice reform has gotten many people elected as DA. Once in office, their reforms have often been painfully slow and disappointing. Krasner was the first candidate elected who publicly committed not just to intermittent changes, but a radical overhaul. So far, having been in office less than three months, he has exceeded expectations. He's doing something I've never quite seen before in present-day politics: Larry Krasner's keeping his word &mdash; and it's a sight to behold.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/aug/13/paul-ryan-sold-shares-banking-crisis?CMP=share_btn_tw">Paul Ryan sold shares on same day as private briefing of banking crisis</a>: <font color=maroon>Vice-presidential candidate denies he profited from a 2008 meeting with Fed chairman in which officials outlined fears for financial crisis</font>" &mdash; That's straight-up insider trading, y'all. What are the chances he'll be prosecuted? <p>Alyssa Rosenberg in <em>The Washington Post</em>, "<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/act-four/wp/2018/03/25/the-most-radical-part-of-anderson-coopers-interview-with-stormy-daniels/">The most radical part of Anderson Cooper's interview with Stormy Daniels</a> [...] <font color=maroon>But as a cultural milestone, the most radical thing Cooper did was refuse to treat Clifford as if she was irresponsible or immoral, or as if she were less than credible simply because of what she does for a living.</font>" <p>Ryan Cooper in <em>The Week</em>, "<a href="http://theweek.com/articles/760739/how-democrats-wipe-gop-fix-america/">How Democrats can wipe out the GOP and fix America</a>." There are some good ideas in here, but he glossed a little on foreign policy. And I still wish people would talk about abolishing the Budget Act. <p>James Banford in <em>The New Republic</em>, "<a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/147366/anti-intelligence">Anti-Intelligence: What happens when the president goes to war with his own spies?</a> [...] <font color=maroon>Former intelligence chiefs who, a few years ago, were justly chastised by much of the mainstream media for lying and violating civil liberties are now featured in the press as purveyors of truth and justice. Among them is former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, who was roundly criticized for what many view as his lying under oath before Congress regarding the NSA's illegal domestic spying; former NSA Director Michael Hayden, who secretly ordered his agency to begin that spying; and former CIA Director John Brennan, who purportedly ran the agency's program of targeted killing of Americans and tried to prevent the Senate from releasing its voluminous investigation into the CIA's torture program. In November, Trump attacked Clapper and Brennan as 'political hacks.' The next day, the pair appeared on CNN to defend the intelligence community. 'Considering the source of the criticism,' Brennan said of Trump's comments, 'I consider that criticism a badge of honor.'</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Ironically, much of the danger Trump poses can be laid at the feet of Barack Obama. Assuming that past norms would be future norms, Obama created the most powerful surveillance state the world has ever seen. Over eight years, he spent more than $100 billion on everything from eavesdropping satellites encircling the globe, to a million-square-foot building in the Utah desert for storing massive troves of intercepted data, to secret taps on the hundreds of thousands of miles of undersea cables that carry everything from tweets to Google searches to endless chatter. He also unleashed fleets of killer drones around the world, authorized the assassination of Americans without trial, and jailed more whistleblowers than all previous presidents combined. What Obama apparently never considered was that the Orwellian surveillance tools he created, and the precedents he set of killing and jailing Americans, could one day fall into the hands of a mountebank, demagogic president unrestrained by norms and perhaps even untethered from reality. One who may see them as preapproved weapons in his war to delegitimize his own government and attack political opponents, innocent Americans, and the press, which he has labeled 'the enemy of the American people.'</font>" <p>Interesting wrinkle: I've been keeping my mouth shut about this whole story because my instincts were just up in the air. Everyone - and I mean <em>everyone</em> - just takes for granted that, well, Putin is vindictive and it's just the kind of thing he would do. But that presents a problem, because everyone does know it, and that means it's very easy to put him in the frame. And there are a lot of people who are getting really good at blaming their designated bad guy for stuff we even know they didn't do, and they all seem to be people who are dedicated to making Putin the Bad Guy of the Decade and pointing all the weapons in Russia's direction. And we have no reason to trust those people. So there's always a question of why, at a time like this, Putin would be dumb enough to do something that is so in character with the villain those people need him to be. (Yes, yes, he's an oligarch and thug and authoritarian, but that doesn't mean he's stupid.) And then there's this story: "<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-europe-43519494/skripal-regretted-being-double-agent">Skripal 'regretted being double agent'</a>: <font color=maroon>A former classmate says the spy told him he wrote to Vladimir Putin asking to come back to Russia. Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia are in a critical condition after being poisoned by a nerve agent in Salisbury on 4 March. Vladimir Timoshkov was speaking exclusively to the BBC.</font>" Moscow says they never got that letter. They also claim they had nothing to do with the attack on the Skripals. Maybe, maybe not. It would have been in their interest to say that they'd seen the letter and were considering it, if they really want to deny their involvement. A lot of claims have been made that the Skripals were poisoned by a uniquely Russian nerve agent, but no experts are willing to support those claims and they seem to be sheer propaganda. (Much like with the "Russian hacks" story, ridiculous claims are made about the supposedly "uniquely Russian" origins of things that are already out there and can't actually be traced to source anymore. It's like saying Germans developed modern aspirin so it must be Germans who are responsible for an aspirin overdose. It's rubbish.) <p>"<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/making-profits-on-the-captive-prison-market">Making Profits on the Captive Prison Market</a> [...] <font color=maroon> Some jails, for instance, have removed in-person family-visitation rooms to make way for 'video visitation' terminals, provided by private firms, which can charge as much as thirty dollars for forty minutes of screen time. One prison phone company, Securus Technologies, says in its marketing materials that it has paid out $1.3 billion in these so-called commissions over the past ten years.</font>" <p><a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/03/23/deconstructed-podcast-we-need-to-talk-about-inequality-with-bernie-sanders/">Transcript of Mehdi Hasan's interview with Senator Bernie Sanders on the #Deconstructed podcast, We need to talk about inequality</a>. (Podcast audio is included.) <p>In <em>Gentleman's Quarterly</em>, of all places, "<a href="https://www.gq.com/story/on-conservatism">The Great Lie of Conservatism</a> [...] <font color=maroon>I grew up during the downfall of the Soviet Union, so I understand why men from the generation before me are so wary of Communist and socialist ideas, and why they endlessly worship Reagan for helping precipitate its downfall (one author created a set of Reagan-style bedrock principles, and they are as equally blind and dated as the others). I am a greedy capitalist at heart, and I do not like the prospect of a Commie Russia endgame any more than they did. But these guys were so obsessed with how liberalism might go sour that they seem to have never once considered how their own philosophy could do likewise.</font>" <p>Richard Eskow in <em>Common Dreams</em>, "<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/19/resistance-needs-better-heroes">The Resistance Needs Better Heroes</a>: <font color=maroon>A movement is defined by its heroes. The Resistance can find better heroes than the ones some of its members have chosen &mdash; and it should.</font>" <p>Michelle Chen in <em>The Nation</em>, "<a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/worker-cooperatives-are-more-productive-than-normal-companies/">Worker Cooperatives Are More Productive Than Normal Companies</a>: <font color=maroon>When maximizing profits isn't the only goal, companies can actually work better.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>By prioritizing worker autonomy, co-ops provide more sustainable long-term employment, but not only because worker-owners seek to protect their own livelihoods. If a company runs into economic distress, Perotin says, co-ops are generally more adept at preserving jobs while planning longer-term adjustments to the firm's operations, such as slowing down expansion to maintain current assets &mdash; whereas traditional corporations may pay less attention to strategic planning and simply shed jobs to tighten budgets.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-02-13/what-s-keeping-black-americans-poor">Why Black Americans Stay Poor</a>: <font color=maroon>The education gap with whites has narrowed, but not the wealth gap.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>In many areas -- college education, two-parent families, employment -- black families made progress toward closing the gap with whites from 1989 to 2013 (the earliest and latest data available). But the wealth gap ended up larger than ever.</font>" Well, sure, you can't put redlining on steroids and then steal all those homes &mdash; homes, that's where most families' wealth is &mdash; and not lose ground. <p>Just for grins, a review in the <em>National Catholic Reporter</em> says, "<a href="https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/distinctly-catholic/douthats-francis-book-poorly-sourced-inadequate-journalism">Douthat's Francis book is poorly sourced, inadequate journalism</a>: <font color=maroon>Let's start with the compliments. Ross Douthat's latest book, To Change the Church: Pope Francis and the Future of Catholicism, exhibits a writing style that is admirable and enviable, and his command of the English language is exemplary, his ability to turn a phrase exceptional. And, like his columns, there is an almost lawyerly logic to his writing, as he moves from fact to argument and from argument to thesis. And, like all great spiritual writing, Douthat does not hold back: His personal wrestlings are there upon the page for all to see. But I come to bury Douthat not to praise him, for his facts are nonsense, his arguments tendentious, and his thesis so absurd it is shocking, absolutely shocking, that no one over at Simon & Schuster thought to ask if what he writes is completely or only partially unhinged. I incline to the former adverb.</font>" <p>REST IN PEACE: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Bischoff"><b>Dave Bischoff</b>, 15 December 1951-19 March 2018</a> &mdash; He was my friend, part of the old University of Maryland sf group crew, a contributor to <em>Thrust</em> back when it was just a fanzine, and he once made me an incidental character in one of his books just because I'd mentioned liking one of his short stories. The <a href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/star-trek-writer-david-bischoff-12267649">obits</a> I've seen talk about his <em>Star Trek</em> work but don't give a cause of death or any other personal information. He was 66. <p>REST IN PEACE: "<a href="https://www.democracynow.org/2018/3/21/headlines/groundbreaking_journalist_newsday_columnist_les_payne_dies_at_76">Groundbreaking Journalist &amp; Newsday Columnist <b>Les Payne</b> Dies at 76</a>. <font color=maroon>Payne was a champion for racial equality and a groundbreaking journalist who exposed racial injustice from Long Island, New York, to apartheid South Africa. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his work on a 33-part series entitled 'The Heroin Trail,' in which he and other reporters traced the drug from the poppy fields of Turkey to the streets of U.S. cities. Les Payne was a founding member and former president of the National Association of Black Journalists. For years, he's been working on an unfinished biography of Malcolm X. This is Les Payne, reading his essay 'The Night I Stopped Being a Negro,' about his experience hearing Malcolm X speak at Bushnell Memorial Hall in Hartford, Connecticut, in June 1963. At the time, Payne was one of only 60 African-American students at the University of Connecticut &mdash; out of 10,000 enrolled students.</font>" <p>ROT IN PERDITION: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/20/obituaries/peter-g-peterson-dies-power-from-wall-st-to-washington.html"><b>Pete Peterson</b></a>, deficit fear-monger whose "philanthropy" was largely aimed at impoverishing any American who didn't get rich during their working life. "<font color=maroon>As a fiscal watchdog, he created a well-financed foundation that addresses a spectrum of fiscal issues and holds conferences that draw America's top financial and political leaders. He wrote a half-dozen books laying out his vision for economic prosperity while critiquing, and criticizing, entitlement spending, the Social Security system and the impact on the economy of partisan politics in Washington.</font>" Gee, they make it sound so harmless, but it would be difficult to overstate what a terrible, destructive monster he was. Robert Kuttner has a much better take with his "<a href="http://prospect.org/article/pete-peterson-meets-st-peter">Pete Peterson Meets St. Peter</a>: <font color=maroon>The late private equity billionaire has some trouble at the Pearly Gates.</font>" <p>ROT IN PERDITION: <b>Zell Miller</b>, 86, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50841-2004Aug31.html">former Georgia governor and US Senator</a>, bigot, homophobe, and <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/03/23/zell-miller-former-georgia-governor-and-us-senator-remembered-as-true-statesman-visionary-by-colleagues.html">Fox News Democrat</a> who famously refused to endorse the party's nominee, Bill Clinton, and was therefore denied a speaking spot at the Democratic Party convention and incessantly whined ever after that they wouldn't let him talk because he was anti-abortion, and was also the keynote speaker at the 2004 Republican Party convention. He was happy to go everywhere and complain that, "I didn't leave the Democratic Party, it left me" - but not because it had turned against the New Deal, and merely because it was less inclined to accept his overt bigotry on "social issues". His erratic slides to left and right earned him the nickname "Zig-Zag Zell", but his trajectory soon became consistently toward the far right. <p>"<a href="https://creativeloafing.com/content-185638-Cover-Story:-The-comic-book-that-changed-the-world">The comic book that changed the world</a>: <font color=maroon>Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story's vital role in the Civil Rights Movement</font>" <p>Peter, Paul &amp; Mary, "<a href="https://youtu.be/Kyj7nnP4YGQ">Well, Well, Well</a>"Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-46592731611810730222018-03-19T16:23:00.001+00:002018-03-19T23:37:38.006+00:00Don't stay too long<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vUF0QP9qtC0/Wq_j50cqlDI/AAAAAAAAB1g/7E8KKcegdr8CoBKqayNfXkWZwUHdp8bHQCLcBGAs/s1600/Chip%2BDelany%2B%2526%2BKate%2BWilhelm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vUF0QP9qtC0/Wq_j50cqlDI/AAAAAAAAB1g/7E8KKcegdr8CoBKqayNfXkWZwUHdp8bHQCLcBGAs/s320/Chip%2BDelany%2B%2526%2BKate%2BWilhelm.jpg" width="320" height="240" data-original-width="1600" data-original-height="1200" /> </a></div> <p>Democrat wins deep-red PA district; Republican turn-out was normal, but Democrats showed up. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/03/13/us/elections/results-pennsylvania-house-special-election.html#eln-forecast-section">Pennsylvania Special Election Results: Lamb Wins 18th Congressional District</a> <p>Charlie Pierce, "<a href="https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a19430719/conor-lamb-pennsylvania-18th/">Conor Lamb's Victory Matters, and Paul Ryan Should Be Scared: Republicans had the money. They had the gerrymandering. They still couldn't do it.</a> <font color=maroon>In his victory speech, which came before anyone had called the race, which MSNBC's Brian Williams couldn't resist telling his audience, Lamb interestingly leaned very hard on thanking the support he'd received from organized labor. In fact, he talked more &mdash; and more sincerely &mdash; about unions in that speech than any candidate I've heard since the beginning of Bernie Sanders' campaign back in 2015. This is beyond encouraging. I am sure that Lamb is going to take some positions that are going to make me crazy. (If he takes a dive on guns in this historical moment, or if he really becomes part of an effort to make, say, Tim Ryan the speaker of a newly elected Democratic House, the shebeen will not be pleased.) But telling labor that he owes his victory largely to its effort, and actually meaning it, is a very welcome &mdash; and an extremely shrewd &mdash; move for a rookie, and it evinces the kind of awareness that he's going to need to win re-election in whatever district he has to run in when this one disappears.</font>" <p>Ryan Cooper in <em>Common Dreams</em>, "<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/17/can-democrats-think-strategically-about-trump-country">Can Democrats Think Strategically About Trump Country?</a> <font color=maroon>If Democrats are going to win in places like western Pennsylvania, they have to formulate an ideological and political stance that reverses the last generation of weak and elitist neoliberal Democratic Party policy.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/03/phillys-new-top-prosecutor-is-rolling-out-wild-unprecedented-criminal-justice-reforms.html?wpsrc=sh_all_dt_tw_ru">Philadelphia's New Top Prosecutor Is Rolling Out Wild, Unprecedented Criminal Justice Reforms</a>: <font color=maroon>Philadelphia's newly minted district attorney, Larry Krasner, was meeting constituents in a packed church in West Philadelphia earlier this month to discuss his plans for the job. The meeting was unique in that it quickly revealed to community members what local civic leaders and officials have already learned about Krasner: He is making good on his promise to revolutionize the job of district attorney and, in the process, offering an extraordinary experiment in criminal justice reform at the municipal level that could serve as a national model.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>On Tuesday, Krasner issued a memo to his staff making official a wave of new policies he had announced his attorneys last month. The memo starts: 'These policies are an effort to end mass incarceration and bring balance back to sentencing.' The most significant and groundbreaking reform is how he has instructed assistant district attorneys to wield their most powerful tool: plea offers. Over 90 percent of criminal cases nationwide are decided in plea bargains, a system which has been broken beyond repair by mandatory minimum sentences and standardized prosecutorial excess. In an about-face from how these transactions typically work, Krasner's 300 lawyers are to start many plea offers at the low end of sentencing guidelines. For most nonviolent and nonsexual crimes, or economic crimes below a $50,000 threshold, Krasner's lawyers are now to offer defendants sentences below the bottom end of the state's guidelines. So, for example, if a person with no prior convictions is accused of breaking into a store at night and emptying the cash register, he would normally face up to 14 months in jail. Under Krasner's paradigm, he'll be offered probation. If prosecutors want to use their discretion to deviate from these guidelines, say if a person has a particularly troubling rap sheet, Krasner must personally sign off.</font>" <p>David Dayen at <em>The Intercept</em>, "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/03/12/tim-kaine-democrats-offer-last-minute-pretend-defense-of-fair-lending-laws-as-they-prepare-to-weaken-them/">Democrats offer last-minute, pretend defense of fair lending laws, as they prepare to weaken them</a>: <font color=maroon>IN A FINAL indignity, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., has offered an amendment essentially striking a controversial provision from bipartisan bank deregulation bill S.2155 that would limit tools prosecutors use to detect mortgage lending discrimination, while acknowledging that the amendment probably wouldn't get a vote &mdash; and wouldn't be necessary for his ultimate support. At issue is Section 104, which exempts all banks and credit unions issuing 500 mortgages or less a year from enhanced Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, or HMDA, data requirements used to identify lending discrimination. This would cover 85 percent of all regulated mortgage lenders from the new requirements, which were part of the Dodd-Frank Act.</font>" <p>David Dayen at <em>The New Republic</em>, "<a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/146629/governments-taxes-citizens-free-time">The Government's Taxes on Citizens' Free Time</a>: <font color=maroon>The Trump administration's latest shenanigans add to the growing, everyday burden of being an American.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Why must Americans become part-time accountants, just to follow the rules of society? Both parties are responsible for layering these responsibilities on citizens, choosing complication over simplicity and offloading that complexity onto the individual.</font>" <p>Zaid Jilani at <em>The Intercept</em>, "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/03/14/marijuana-legalization-expunge-convictions/">States That Have Decriminalized Marijuana Should Expunge Prior Pot Convictions, Activists Say</a>: <font color=maroon>A GROUP OF legal activists is calling on district attorneys in eight states that have legalized or decriminalized marijuana to take the next logical step: expunge the records of people charged with misdemeanors related to marijuana possession. The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, an advocacy group, sent letters to 201 officials in eight states: Alaska, California, Massachusetts, Maine, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington last week, pointing out that current procedures to expunge convictions for misdemeanor marijuana possession are cumbersome. The committee encouraged the district attorneys to follow the lead of San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón, who announced in January that he would expunge and then dismiss thousands of misdemeanor and felony marijuana possession cases going back to 1975.</font> <p>"<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/14/german-cities-to-trial-free-public-transport-to-cut-pollution">German cities to trial free public transport to cut pollution: Plan to be tested in five cities in effort to meet EU air pollution targets and avoid big fines</a>: <font color=maroon>'Car nation' Germany has surprised neighbours with a radical proposal to reduce road traffic by making public transport free, as Berlin scrambles to meet EU air pollution targets and avoid big fines. The move comes just over two years after Volkswagen's devastating 'dieselgate' emissions cheating scandal unleashed a wave of anger at the auto industry, a keystone of German prosperity.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/03/nancy-pelosi-just-endorsed-a-congressman-who-opposes-abortion-and-gay-rights/">Nancy Pelosi Just Endorsed a Congressman Who Opposes Abortion and Gay Rights: Dan Lipinski even voted against Obamacare</a>. <font color=maroon>Illinois Democratic Rep. Dan Lipinski's career is on life-support. The seven-term congressman from the Chicago area, who inherited his seat from his father, is facing a formidable primary challenge from businesswoman Marie Newman, whose campaign has been fueled by progressive anger at Lipinski's opposition to reproductive rights, LGBT rights, and Obamacare. EMILY's List, the national organization that supports pro-choice women candidates, has backed Newman and, along with a host of progressive groups &mdash; including Planned Parenthood and the pro-LGBT rights Human Rights Campaign &mdash; has spent heavily on ads against Lipinski Elected Democrats &mdash; including New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and fellow Chicago-area Rep. Jan Schakowsky &mdash; have waded into the primary to back Newman. And in an unusual step for a race with a Democratic incumbent, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee had declined to endorse Lipinski. But on Thursday, less than three weeks before the March 20 primary, Lipinski did pick up one notable supporter: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.</font>" <p>"<a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-lying-prosecutors-20150201-story.html">U.S. judges see 'epidemic' of prosecutorial misconduct in state</a>: <font color=maroon>The hearing seemed largely routine until a state prosecutor approached the lectern. Deputy Atty. Gen. Kevin R. Vienna was there to urge three judges on the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold murder convictions against Johnny Baca for two 1995 killings in Riverside County. Other courts had already determined that prosecutors had presented false evidence in Baca's trial but upheld the verdicts anyway. Vienna had barely started his argument when the pummeling began.</font>" <p>Ryan Cooper in <em>The Week</em>, "<a href="http://theweek.com/articles/759789/subtle-racism-centrist-democrats">The subtle racism of centrist Democrats</a>: <font color=maroon>Quisling Senate Democrats are collaborating with congressional Republicans and President Trump to roll back the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill. So far they have broken a filibuster, and the bill looks set for passage. It's an immensely horrible idea that significantly raises the risk of a future financial crisis. However, it should also be emphasized that this deregulation package is racist both in specifics and in general effect. It's a perfect demonstration of how centrist Democrats sell out their most loyal voting bloc to predatory Wall Street banks.</font>" (I actually don't think it's all that subtle, myself. To me, all this deregulating and defending the banks has always screamed, "Steal black wealth!" to me. Yes, steal a lot of white wealth, too, but there have been numerous structural means used longer than my lifetime to make it harder for black people to get "real property" than it is for whites, and since having that land and home make an enormous difference to the success of a family, allowing the financial industry to continue to make both acquiring and keeping real property especially difficult for black people is a blatant and direct racist attack on black America.) <p>"<a href="https://www.allure.com/story/sesta-sex-trafficking-bill-celebrity-psa">If You Care About Sex Trafficking, Trust People in the Sex Trades &mdash; Not Celebrities</a>: <font color=maroon>When I use my writing platform to discuss my sex work history and advocate for people who are currently in the sex trades, one of the occupational hazards I resent the most is the demand that I prove my legitimacy by reliving past traumas. Another is the unending task of learning the ins and outs of misleadingly labeled federal legislation that would be disastrous for sex workers. But learn it, I do, and you should too as a horrific bill, the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act of 2017 (SESTA), inches closer to a Senate vote.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.politicalorphans.com/the-article-removed-from-forbes-why-white-evangelicalism-is-so-cruel/">The article removed from Forbes, 'Why White Evangelicalism Is So Cruel'</a> [...] <font color=maroon>There is still today a Southern Baptist Church. More than a century and a half after the Civil War, and decades after the Methodists and Presbyterians reunited with their Yankee neighbors, America's most powerful evangelical denomination remains defined, right down to the name over the door, by an 1845 split over slavery. Southern denominations faced enormous social and political pressure from plantation owners. Public expressions of dissent on the subject of slavery in the South were not merely outlawed, they were a death sentence. Baptist ministers who rejected slavery, like South Carolina's William Henry Brisbane, were forced to flee to the North. Otherwise, they would end up like Methodist minister Anthony Bewley, who was lynched in Texas in 1860, his bones left exposed at local store to be played with by children. Whiteness offered protection from many of the South's cruelties, but that protection stopped at the subject of race. No one who dared speak truth to power on the subject of slavery, or later Jim Crow, could expect protection. Generation after generation, Southern pastors adapted their theology to thrive under a terrorist state.</font>" <p><em>The Hill</em>, "<a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/377342-sanders-dems-attacks-on-other-dems-not-acceptable">Sanders: DCCC primary attacks on other Dems 'not acceptable'</a>: <font color=maroon>Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said on Wednesday that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's attacks on a progressive House candidate in Texas were "appalling" and 'unacceptable.'</font>" I still get bugged by Clinton's claim that the "long primary" hurt her in the general. It wasn't a long primary. It started more than a whole summer later than the primaries for the 2008 election, which didn't hurt Obama at all in the general. <p>Also at <em>The Hill</em>, Brent Budowsky says, "<a href="http://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/377583-a-sanders-warren-ticket-could-win-big-in-2020">A Sanders-Warren ticket could win big in 2020</a> [...] <font color=maroon>Whether one supports Sanders or any other potential candidate in 2020, the case is clear that a strong progressive program and message would give Democrats a decided advantage in any campaign against the scandal-ridden and crony-capitalist-dominated presidency of Trump and his GOP allies in Congress.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/03/07/dems-m07.html">The CIA Democrats: Part one</a>: <font color=maroon>An extraordinary number of former intelligence and military operatives from the CIA, Pentagon, National Security Council and State Department are seeking nomination as Democratic candidates for Congress in the 2018 midterm elections. The potential influx of military-intelligence personnel into the legislature has no precedent in US political history. If the Democrats capture a majority in the House of Representatives on November 6, as widely predicted, candidates drawn from the military-intelligence apparatus will comprise as many as half of the new Democratic members of Congress. They will hold the balance of power in the lower chamber of Congress. If the Democrats capture a majority in the House of Representatives on November 6, as widely predicted, candidates drawn from the military-intelligence apparatus will comprise as many as half of the new Democratic members of Congress. They will hold the balance of power in the lower chamber of Congress.</font>" <p>The California Democrats did not endorse Diane Feinstein this year, so it's hardly a surprise that <a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/377619-sanders-wont-endorse-feinstein">Sanders won't endorse Feinstein</a>, either. <p>Elizabeth Bruenig in, amazingly, <em>The Washington Post</em>, says, "<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/its-time-to-give-socialism-a-try/2018/03/06/c603a1b6-2164-11e8-86f6-54bfff693d2b_story.html">It's time to give socialism a try</a>: <font color=maroon>In the United States, we've arrived at a pair of mutually exclusive convictions: that liberal, capitalist democracies are guaranteed by their nature to succeed and that in our Trumpist moment they seem to be failing in deeply unsettling ways. For liberals &mdash; and by this I mean inheritors of the long liberal tradition, not specifically those who might also be called progressives &mdash; efforts to square these two notions have typically combined expressions of high anxiety with reassurances that, if we only have the right attitude, everything will set itself aright. Hanging on and hoping for the best is certainly one approach to rescuing the best of liberalism from its discontents, but my answer is admittedly more ambitious: It's time to give socialism a try.</font>" <p>Matt Taibbi, "<a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/taibbi-russiagate-trump-putin-mueller-and-targeting-dissent-w517486">Russiagate may have been aimed at Trump to start, but it's become a way of targeting all dissent</a> [...] <font color=maroon>If you don't think that the endgame to all of this lunacy is a world where every America-critical movement from Black Lives Matter to Our Revolution to the Green Party is ultimately swept up in the collusion narrative along with Donald Trump and his alt-right minions, you haven't been paying attention.</font>" <p>"<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/democratic-bot-network-sally-albright_us_5aa2f548e4b07047bec68023">How A Twitter Fight Over Bernie Sanders Revealed A Network Of Fake Accounts</a>: <font color=maroon>One Democratic Party consultant said an unnamed client controlled many of these accounts.</font>" Basically, a bunch of bots used to promote hateful, divisive tweets against Bernie Sanders. <p>Dave Johnson at <em>Seeing the Forest</em> <a href="http://seeingtheforest.com/on-trumps-steel-aluminum-tariffs-and-so-called-trade-generally/">On Trump's Steel/Aluminum Tariffs And So-Called 'Trade' Generally</a>: <font color=maroon>I agree with the tariffs, but not the way it is being done. It should have been planned, phased in, coordinated with US industry and, most important, part of a comprehensive US economic/trade/industrial policy. The latter just isn't going to happen under Trump nor under a Wall Street dominated economy even with Democrats running things.</font>" <p>Thomas Kline MD, PhD, "<a href="https://medium.com/@ThomasKlineMD/suicides-associated-with-non-consented-opioid-pain-medication-reductions-356b4ef7e02a">February, 2018 update of PAIN RELATED SUICIDES associated with forced opioid pain medication reductions and discontinuations as recommended by the CDC and by Andrew Kolodny, M.D. and his 'Physicians for Responsible Opiate Prescribing' (PROP)</a>" &mdash; I don't expect anyone to read all of this but it shouldn't take much reading to recognize that this is a cruel and vile situation. <p>In <em>The Nation</em>, <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/its-time-to-abolish-ice/">It's Time to Abolish ICE</a>: <font color=maroon>A mass-deportation strike force is incompatible with democracy and human rights.</font>" <p>Max Sawicky reviews <a href="https://thebaffler.com/latest/foul-shot-sawicky"><em>Fair Shot</em></a>: <font color=maroon>BY THE STANDARDS OF FACEBOOK'S TITANS, co-founder Chris Hughes was an also-ran. His payout from early participation in the company's launch, which stemmed from the good fortune of having been Mark Zuckerberg's college roommate, was only $500 million. To his credit, Hughes &mdash; a former fundraiser for Barack Obama now best known for his short-lived reign as The New Republic's would-be Silicon Valley savior &mdash; is preoccupied with the injustice of his windfall and has investigated how best to give an appreciable chunk of his money away, in the service of good causes. This turns out to be a difficult project. One of his solutions is to devote himself to the advocacy of a new program to guarantee income for all Americans. He could have done worse.</font>" Max reckons Hughes makes a nice start at batting away some of the worst myths in opposition, but has a long way to go. <p>"<a href="https://blaircenter.uark.edu/the-impact-of-modern-sexism/">The Impact of 'Modern Sexism' on the 2016 Presidential Election</a>: <font color=maroon>A report from the 2016 Blair Center Poll prepared by Angie Maxwell, Ph.D. and Todd Shields, Ph.D.</font>" I didn't read it all, but it did have <a href="https://cpb-us-east-1-juc1ugur1qwqqqo4.stackpathdns.com/wordpressua.uark.edu/dist/7/128/files/2017/06/Figure-2.png">this amusing graph</a>. <p>RIP: "<a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/3/16/17129682/rep-louise-slaughter-dies-88-legacy">Rep. <b>Louise Slaughter</b>, progressive champion of women's rights, dies at 88</a>." This is pretty sad news, because she was one of that small handful who had real accomplishments, fought the good fight, and wasn't just in it for herself. She was also a champion of net neutrality and was never a trusting neoliberal. "<font color=maroon>When President Bill Clinton asked for her support on NAFTA, she famously replied, 'Why are you carrying George Bush's trash?'</font>" <p>RIP: "<a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/former-black-panther-herman-wallace-dies-days-after-judge-overturns-murder-conviction-that-saw-him-8859711.html">Former Black Panther <b>Herman Wallace</b> dies days after judge overturns murder conviction that saw him serve 41 years in solitary confinement</a>: <font color=maroon>A former Black Panther who served 41 years in solitary confinement has died days after a US federal judge overturned his conviction for the murder of a prison guard. Herman Wallace was freed on Tuesday after Judge Brian Jackson ruled his 1974 trial had been 'unconstitutional' and ordered his immediate release. He was suffering from terminal liver cancer and died with supporters by his side early this morning. He was 71.</font>" <p>RIP: <a href="https://boingboing.net/2018/03/11/the-sweet-birds-sang.html"><b>Kate Wilhelm</b>, science fiction great and co-founder of the Clarion Workshop</a>, accomplished and widely-read author, mentor to many, at 89. The photo above is one I took of her with Chip Delany at WisCon 30. <p>RIP: <a href="http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/nicholls_peter"><b>Peter Nichols</b></a>, writer, editor, and longtime critic and historian of science fiction, best known as the creator-organizer of <em>The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction</em>, presumably of Parkinson's. He was 79. <p>RIP: <a href="https://twitter.com/i/moments/973767303408963584"><b>Stephen Hawking</b></a>, renowned theoretical physicist, <em>Star Trek</em> fan, and not a big fan of Sheldon, at 76. And who can forget that endearing moment when right-wingers who never figured out that it was Hawking's voice machine, and not him, that had the American accent, and who actually used him as an example of the merits of the American system &mdash; and Hawking's rejoinder was that he would have died without the UK's National Health Service. <p>Atrios claims he tried this trick for making <a href="https://www.rachaelrayshow.com/recipes/25707_microwave_buckwheat_bread/">microwave buckwheat bread in three minutes</a> and it worked. It's even gluten-free. <p>Patrick Sky, "<a href="https://youtu.be/rytjHdhLMsw">Nectar of God</a>"Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-73392640342728279482018-03-08T19:10:00.000+00:002018-03-19T15:59:33.200+00:00Did you follow the Crystal Swan?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V2qk9W2cu6w/WqGKlIBe8qI/AAAAAAAAB1Q/Eg9J7DSZFyYT90ZXThPVD8s9h2fPQy6CACLcBGAs/s1600/DarkBlueWallpaper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: center; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V2qk9W2cu6w/WqGKlIBe8qI/AAAAAAAAB1Q/Eg9J7DSZFyYT90ZXThPVD8s9h2fPQy6CACLcBGAs/s320/DarkBlueWallpaper.jpg" width="640" height="268" data-original-width="1196" data-original-height="499" /></a></div> <p>Bless you, Matt Taibbi. "<a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/taibbi-parkland-florida-school-shooting-gun-control-nra-w516850">If We Want Kids to Stop Killing, the Adults Have to Stop, Too</a>" <blockquote><font color=maroon>Apart from a few scenes in <em>Bowling for Columbine</em>, this is an explanation you won't hear very much. Military spending is the lifeline of virtually every federally-elected politician in the country. You've been to trained seal shows where the animals get a fish every time they perform? The same principle works with members of Congress and defense contracts. <p>The U.S. is more dependent than ever on a quasi-socialistic system that redistributes tax dollars to defense projects in even fashion across both Republican and Democratic congressional districts. A few times a year, you'll spot a news story about someone in the Pentagon trying to refuse a spending initiative, only to be told to keep building by Congress.</font></blockquote>Yes, I remember Michael Moore being the only public figure I have ever seen asking this important question about the simple fact that while other countries have guns, they don't have all this shooting people going on. And why is that? Isn't it the constant ginning up of fear and hate our own mass media has dedicated itself to? <p><center><font color=magenta>* * * * *</font></center><p> I am so bored with Russian bots. Seems they tweeted or Facebooked everyone, but the Clintonites are of course out in force saying, "Bernie benefited from Russian bots and he should answer for this!" or similar. It's annoying. The whole story gets stupider by the day. They also seem to think they have "proof" that Putin was elevating Jill Stein, although the bots gave Clinton at least as much of a boost as they gave Stein. 13 bots sent out memes saying, among other things, "Hillary is a Satan" (they also sent out pro-Clinton posts and retweeted the hell out of <a href="https://lawandcrime.com/legal-analysis/msnbc-host-joy-ann-reid-was-apparently-russian-trolls-favorite-pundit/">Joy Reid</a>), and this supposedly swung Clinton voters away from voting for her, which is an interesting theory about the minds of potential Clinton voters. Anyway here's a good comment from <a href="http://www.eschatonblog.com/2018/02/no-youre-mark.html">Atrios</a> on the subject. <p>At a blog that bears a mysterious resemblance to Billmon's <em>Whiskey Bar</em>, we learn "<a href="http://www.moonofalabama.org/2018/02/russian-bots-how-an-anti-russian-lobby-creates-fake-news.html">'Russian bots' - How An Anti-Russian Lobby Creates Fake News</a>: <font color=maroon>The U.S. mainstream media are going nuts. They now make up and report stories based on the uncritical acceptance of an algorithm they do not want to understand and which is known to produce fake results.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>In other words - the "Twitter accounts suspected of having links to Russia" were following the current news just as cable news networks do. When a new sensational event happened they immediately jumped onto it. But the NYT authors go to length to claim that there is some nefarious Russian scheme behind this that uses automated accounts to spread divisive issues.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>The real method the Hamilton 68 group used to select the 600 accounts it tracks is unknown. The group does not say or show how it made it up. Despite that the NYT reporters, Sheera Frenkel and Daisuke Wakabayashi, continue with the false assumptions that most or all of these accounts are automated, have something to do with Russia and are presumably nefarious.</font>" <p>I sometimes find Jimmy Dore a bit over-the-top but <a href="https://youtu.be/i475yscpfNA">this clip</a> gives you a more accurate picture of what's really going on than any of our more "responsible" coverage provides. It's embarrassing to see people like Ari Melber repeating nonsense about how Sanders (but not Clinton) has to answer for the social media junk that apparently supported the campaign. <p>"<a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/hyping-the-mueller-indictment/">Hyping the Mueller Indictment</a>: <font color=maroon>Do the charges against Russian individuals and organizations really describe the 'second-worst foreign attack on America'?</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Neoconservative pundit Max Boot decries 'the second-worst foreign attack on America,' after 9/11, one that 'may be even more corrosive.' According to liberal Jonathan Alter, the Russians have launched 'an attack that - but for the loss of life - is as bad as Pearl Harbor.' Democratic Representative Jerrold Nadler concurs, explaining to MSNBC: 'They didn't kill anyone but they're destroying our democratic process.' Not in the amount of violence, but in the seriousness, it is very much on par.'</font>" You could just bang your head against a wall. <p>Norman Solomon at <em>Truthdig</em>, "<a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/msnbc-now-dangerous-warmonger-network/">Is MSNBC Now the Most Dangerous Warmonger Network?</a> [...] <font color=maroon>In effect, the programming on MSNBC follows a thin blue party line, breathlessly conforming to Democratic leaders' refrains about Russia as a mortal threat to American democracy and freedom across the globe. But hey - MSNBC's ratings have climbed upward during its monochrome reporting, so why worry about whether coverage is neglecting dozens of other crucial stories? Or why worry if the anti-Russia drumbeat is worsening the risks of a global conflagration?</font>" <p><center><font color=magenta>* * * * *</font></center><p> <p><em>Haaretz</em>, "<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-to-leave-gaza-palestinians-asked-to-commit-to-not-come-back-for-year-1.5845466">To Leave Gaza, Israel Asks Palestinian Minors to Commit They Not Return for a Year</a>: <font color=maroon>Israel imposes harsher restrictions on Gazan kids leaving the Strip for abroad, demanding they sign an agreement to stay away</font>. <font color=maroon>On January 24, 17-year-old Hadil and her three younger siblings arrived at the Erez Checkpoint between Israel and the Gaza Strip. A day earlier, they'd received an Israeli permit to leave Gaza through Israel via the Allenby Bridge to Jordan. Since Israel didn't let their oldest brother accompany them on the trip to see their father, who lives in Sweden, Hadil got the job of being the responsible adult. At Erez, a representative of Israel's Coordination and Liaison Office asked all four to sign a commitment not to return to Gaza during the next year, adding that they wouldn't be allowed to leave if they didn't sign. Having no choice, Hadil signed for all of them. Hadil never dreamed that her signature on this commitment would result in the Liaison Office issuing more stringent instructions to its Palestinian counterpart, the Palestinian Civil Affairs Committee, and in the latter defying the new rules.</font>" <p>"<a href="http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/20955/west_virginia_teachers_strike_wildcat/">West Virginia Teachers Are Now Out on a Wildcat Strike. The Labor Movement Should Follow Their Lead</a>. <font color=maroon>In a bright spot among an otherwise bleak landscape for labor, over 15,000 teachers and school support employees in all 55 West Virginia counties have been out on strike for seven days, as they and supporters from around the state continue to flood the capitol in Charleston, W.V., demanding higher pay and affordable healthcare. Bucking a deal struck between the West Virginia Education Association (WVEA) and the state government, school workers have defied both union leadership and state law, which affords them no right to strike and does not recognize their right to collectively bargain. These restrictions haven't stopped West Virginia educators from leading what may be one of the most important labor actions in years.</font>" <p>"<a href="http://therealnews.com/t2/story:21233:Sanders-Introduces-Bill-to-End-Catastrophic-US-War-in-Yemen">Sanders Introduces Bill to End Catastrophic US War in Yemen</a>: <font color=maroon>Three years of U.S.-Saudi war has turned Yemen into the worst humanitarian crisis on Earth. Senators Bernie Sanders and Mike Lee introduced a bipartisan bill to end the U.S. role in the war - Ben Norton reports.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/3/7/17087582/texas-primary-elections-2018-results">2 winners and 2 losers from the 2018 Texas primary elections</a>: <font color=maroon>Most high-profile races will go to runoffs. But there were some clear outcomes.</font>" <p>There is something really twisted about admitting that you think people shooting each other is healthier than masturbation. I mean, seriously. In "<a href="https://avn.com/business/articles/legal/dallas-convention-center-too-good-for-exxxoticabut-not-nra-765553.html">NRA vs. Exxxotica</a>", our friend Mark Kernes explains why the Dallas city council has decided that a weapons-dealers' trade show is good enough for their convention center, but a return of the successful and popular Exxxotica is not. <p>"<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2017/11/22/at-yale-we-conducted-an-experiment-to-turn-conservatives-into-liberals-the-results-say-a-lot-about-our-political-divisions/">At Yale, we conducted an experiment to turn conservatives into liberals. The results say a lot about our political divisions.</a> [...] <font color=maroon>Conservatives, it turns out, react more strongly to physical threat than liberals do. In fact, their greater concern with physical safety seems to be determined early in life: In one University of California study, the more fear a 4-year-old showed in a laboratory situation, the more conservative his or her political attitudes were found to be 20 years later.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>But if they had instead just imagined being completely physically safe, the Republicans became significantly more liberal - their positions on social attitudes were much more like the Democratic respondents. And on the issue of social change in general, the Republicans' attitudes were now indistinguishable from the Democrats. Imagining being completely safe from physical harm had done what no experiment had done before - it had turned conservatives into liberals.</font>" <p>Max Sawicky, "<a href="https://medium.com/@maxbsawicky/is-that-all-there-is-8a1d9d295093">Is That All There Is? How Full Is Our 'Full Employment'?</a> <font color=maroon>There's more than one reason to get jacked up over the Republicans' epic deficit orgy of 2017-18. One that deserves closer scrutiny is the view that since the economy is at full employment, this is the wrong time for deficits to increase. The temptation to lambaste the G.O.P. for its deficit perfidy may be overwhelming, but it could also be both bad economics and bad politics.</font>" <p><center><font color=magenta>* * * * *</font></center><p>Atrios, with "<a href="http://www.eschatonblog.com/2018/03/centrism-isnt-centrism.html">Centrism Isn't Centrism</a>" <blockquote><font color=maroon><p>One of the running themes of this sucky blog is much of what is generally described as the "political center" is not and "moderate politicians" are not. Such "centrism" is mostly about issues and votes which have no constituency where Democrats are willing to join with Republicans (yay, bipartisan!). Or, at least, no constituency of voters. They're things which, usually, have a constituency of big donors. They aren't our principled deal-making "last honest people of Washington." They're our most corrupt. <p>Thinking otherwise allows corrupt Dems to join with equally corrupt Republicans to do things like this, and con people into thinking it's about "principled moderation" and that (in some cases) they're just representing their red state voters. Crazy liberals can't win in Missouri! Only principled moderates can! <p>No voters in Missouri want to eviscerate banking reforms. The most you can say with respect to electoral viability is that by pleasing big money, you prevent big money from going after you at election time. That might be true. But that's because they're going to run ads about other issues (the laundry list of Liberals Are Bad), not because supporting bank regulations is going to turn off independent minded swing voters. <p>I question the utility of being squishy on abortion rights and gun control, but it's fair to say that positioning might actually get some votes. Voting for future bank bailouts? Nah.</font></blockquote><p><center><font color=magenta>* * * * *</font></center><p> <p>At <em>Econospeak</em>, Peter Dorman with "<a href="http://econospeak.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/divide-and-rule.html">Divide and Rule</a>" <blockquote><font color=maroon>There was a time, one I can remember from when I was growing up (the 1950s and 60s), when being a liberal meant you wanted certain rights and benefits for everyone, at least ostensibly. We had Social Security because everyone should have a basic pension when they retire, and all disabled people need to be cared for. Freedom of speech was for everyone, even those horrible Nazis in Skokie. Liberals wanted national health insurance so everyone could afford medical care, but settled for Medicare, a universal program for seniors. Protestors like me were not against the rhetoric of universalism but the hypocritical practice, where blacks, Mexican and Filipino farmworkers and poor single moms were denied their share. That was then. <p>Now, liberals are concerned about minorities and the poor. They are against privilege, which is defined as not being a minority or poor. Public programs are designed to give assistance to the most oppressed and not waste their resources on those who have the privilege to fend for themselves. A poster child for the new politics is higher education. Liberals want bigger subsidies, like more Pell Grants, for the poorest students and those who self-select by enrolling in community college. They were distraught at Bernie Sanders' call for free public higher ed for all, since that would siphon off scarce resources for the benefit of privileged, nonpoor families. From their perspective, this was proof that Bernie and his ilk were unwoke: unaware of the scourge of privilege, they even wanted public support for it. <p>In fact, nothing is more important for the future of progressive politics than a return to universalism. If you doubt this, read this powerful reportage in the New York Times on the divisions opened up by Obamacare. It describes two women, one working part-time and living below the poverty line who gets ample, free health coverage, the other working full-time in a middle class job who is stuck with monthly $1000 premiums and a big deductible. That's not a bug but a feature: the program was set up to focus its support on those at the bottom and charge full freight for everyone else. <p>The effect is to divide the working class into two groups, poor winners and nonpoor losers. The politics are toxic, as you might expect. (Yes, the reporter found a Democrat to represent women below the poverty line and a Republican for women above it, which gives it an unfortunate air of exaggeration, but the logic of the comparison remains compelling.) It is also bad social policy, since at the margin households making $80,000 a year (the middle class example) can also skimp on care if the financial pinch is too much.</font></blockquote><p><center><font color=magenta>* * * * *</font></center><p> <p>Pankaj Mishra, "<a href="https://www.lrb.co.uk/v40/n04/pankaj-mishra/why-do-white-people-like-what-i-write">Why do white people like what I write?</a> [...] <font color=maroon>Compared to these internationalist thinkers, partisans of the second black president, who happen to be the most influential writers and journalists in the US, have provincialised their aspiration for a just society. They have neatly separated it from opposition to an imperial dispensation that incarcerates and deports millions of people each year - disproportionately people of colour - and routinely exercises its right to assault and despoil other countries and murder and torture their citizens. Perceptive about the structural violence of the new Jim Crow, Coates has little to say about its manifestation in the new world order. For all his searing corroboration of racial stigma in America, he has yet to make a connection as vital and powerful as the one that MLK detected in his disillusioned last days between the American devastation of Vietnam and 'the evils that are rooted deeply in the whole structure of our society'. He has so far considered only one of what King identified as 'the giant American triplets of racism, extreme materialism and militarism' - the 'inter-related flaws' that turned American society into a 'burning house' for the blacks trying to integrate into it. And in Coates's worldview even race, despite his formidable authority of personal witness, rarely transcends a rancorously polarised American politics of racial division, in which the world's most powerful man appears to have been hounded for eight years by unreconstructed American racists. 'My President Was Black', a 17,000-word profile in the Atlantic, is remarkable for its missing interrogations of the black president for his killings by drones, despoilation of Libya, Yemen and Somalia, mass deportations, and cravenness before the titans of finance who ruined millions of black as well as white lives. Coates has been accused of mystifying race and of 'essentialising' whiteness. Nowhere, however, does his view of racial identity seem as static as in his critical tenderness for a black member of the 1 per cent.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/25/us-healthcare-reform-medicare-for-all">Why are Democratic party thinktanks still not backing universal healthcare?</a>" Well, the last time there was a roll toward some kind of single-payer-ish program, the American Enterprise Institute created a monstrosity that became RomneyCare and then Obamacare to head it off. They've shot their wad, looks like it's time for the faux "progressives" to take a shot. <p><center><font color=magenta>* * * * *</font></center><p><p>Howie Klein, "<a href="http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2018/02/dccc-comes-out-of-closet-as-progressive.html">DCCC Comes Out Of The Closet As The Progressive-Hating Attack Machine It's Been For Over A Decade</a>. Nancy Pelosi gave a very strange interview the other day, but "<font color=maroon>Her theory behind the races exploded yesterday in Houston when the DCCC did something publicly that it usually only-- and always-- does behind the scenes where no one can watch. It viciously attacked a progressive candidate, Laura Moser, to benefit an establishment corporate shill in the primary.</font>" <p>Lee Fang, Ryan Grim, David Dayen. "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/02/22/national-democrats-go-nuclear-publicly-slam-a-dem-candidate-as-corrupt-for-far-less-than-its-own-officials-do/?clear">DCCC goes nuclear, slams Dem candidate as corrupt for same behavior it engages in regularly</a>: <font color=maroon>ON THURSDAY EVENING, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee took the extraordinary step of publicly attacking a prominent Democratic candidate in a contested Texas primary. The party committee's move was made all the more jarring given the background of the candidate, Laura Moser, who in 2017 became a hero of the Trump resistance movement as the creator of Daily Action, a text-messaging tool that channelled progressive anger into a single piece of activism per day.</font>" <p>Daniel Marans at <em>The Huffington Post</em>, "<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/dccc-las-vegas-massacre-email_us_5a9579f6e4b036ab0142c108">DCCC Advised Candidates Not To Discuss Gun Control Policy Right After Vegas Shooting</a>: <font color=maroon>The campaign organization said Democrats should focus on offering thoughts and prayers.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/02/27/pushing-thoughts-and-prayers-dissing-medicare-all-dccc-called-out-sabotaging-bold">From Pushing 'Thoughts and Prayers' to Dissing Medicare for All, DCCC Called Out for Sabotaging Bold Demands</a>: <font color=maroon>While House Democrats were urged to ignore Medicare for All as a viable solution to the nation's healthcare woes, a separate memo to lawmakers after Las Vegas shooting appeared to be 'straight out of the NRA's talking points'</font>" It's just amazing how the <a href="https://tytnetwork.com/2017/12/05/leaked-memo-democratic-campaign-committee-demands-unity-of-2018-candidates/">leaked DCCC "unity" memo</a> seems so concerned about hiring the "right" consultants and spending most of your money on paid advertising. <p>Zaid Jilani, "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/02/27/dccc-internal-polling-congress-single-payer/">DCCC internal polling presented to members of congress panned single-payer health care</a> <p>For the record, the Democratic Party does not have a page <a href="https://ourrevolution.com/2017-elections-results/">like this</a> listing their election wins and losses. And while it's true that Our Revolution appears to have lost more than they've won, they've had some interesting victories, often in deep red country. You might want to save this link for the next time someone claims otherwise. <p><center><font color=magenta>* * * * *</font></center><p> <p>"<a href="http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-court-whistleblowers-2018021-story.html">Supreme Court limits protections for corporate whistleblowers</a>: <font color=maroon>The Supreme Court sharply limited the legal protections for corporate whistleblowers on Wednesday, ruling they are not shielded from being fired under a federal law unless they have reported a potential fraud to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The justices conceded their ruling might gut the whistleblower protections that were adopted after the Wall Street collapse in 2008. Lawmakers had said they wanted to break the "corporate code of silence" that prevented employees from revealing wrongdoing inside their companies. But the high court, in an unanimous decision, said the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 defined a protected whistleblower as someone who reported a potential fraud "to the commission," referring to the SEC.</font>" <p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomangell/2018/02/23/senator-calls-out-big-pharma-for-opposing-legal-marijuana/#7c7a27b01bac">Senator Kirsten Gillibrand Calls Out Big Pharma For Opposing Legal Marijuana</a>: "<font color=maroon>'To them it's competition for chronic pain, and that's outrageous because we don't have the crisis in people who take marijuana for chronic pain having overdose issues,' Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York said. 'It's not the same thing. It's not as highly addictive as opioids are.'</font>" <p>"<a href="https://jacobinmag.com/2018/02/trump-unpaid-internships-labor-department">Let Them Eat Experience</a>: <font color=maroon>Until last month, almost all unpaid internships were technically illegal. Now it's open season for employers who want free labor.</font>" <p>David Dayen says it's <a href="https://tinyletter.com/DavidDayen/letters/time-to-take-on-ice">Time to Take On ICE</a>, and also links to some other stories he's done on an interesting development in the newly-Democratic Virginia legislature. <br>* Also Dday in <em>The Nation</em> on <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/special-investigation-the-dirty-secret-behind-warren-buffetts-billions/">The Dirty Secret Behind Warren Buffett's Billions</a>." In other Tiny Letters, he tells us about <a href="https://tinyletter.com/DavidDayen/letters/bipartisan-deregulators-stadium-banks-and-the-citigroup-carve-out">Bipartisan Deregulators, Stadium Banks and the Citigroup Carve-Out</a> and <a href="https://tinyletter.com/DavidDayen/letters/ball-s-in-your-supreme-court">the Janus case</a> that looks set to cripple public sector unions. <p>Dday also tells us about a <a href="https://tinyletter.com/DavidDayen/letters/help-me-help-you">publishing project</a> he will be contributing to, of small "books" on DC-related subjects. "<font color=maroon>My friend and Intercept colleague Ryan Grim has co-founded a publishing company called Strong Arm Press. They produce investigations of major figures in the Trump orbit, a sort of field guide to the people running the world these days. The books are expansive enough to really delve into a subject but much smaller than a book, about 10,000 words or so. They are sold cheaply, like $5 or $10, mostly as ebooks. Ryan has asked me to contribute to one such exposé of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who I've written about once or twice. We have a terrific reporter, Rebecca Burns, working hard on this project.</font> So, you can buy the in-depth reporting, but you can also help fund it if you have a few extra pennies to throw in. <p>Plus! On <em>The Majority Report</em>, "<a href="https://youtu.be/QFpNHz5dvTs">Attacking Wall Street Reform w/ David Dayen</a>" - Gosh, he sounds really steamed. <p>"<a href="https://www.mintpressnews.com/police-dont-protect-public-good/238250/">If Police Don't Have to Protect the Public, What Good Are They?</a> <font color=maroon>The U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed, most recently in 2005, that police have no constitutional duty to protect members of the public from harm.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Police have shot and killed Americans of all ages - many of them unarmed - for standing a certain way, or moving a certain way, or holding something - anything - that police could misinterpret to be a gun, or igniting some trigger-centric fear in a police officer's mind that has nothing to do with an actual threat to their safety. In recent years, Americans have been killed by police merely for standing in a 'shooting stance,' holding a cell phone, behaving oddly and holding a baseball bat, opening the front door, running in an aggressive manner holding a tree branch, crawling around naked, hunching over in a defensive posture, wearing dark pants and a basketball jersey, driving while deaf, being homeless, brandishing a shoehorn, holding a garden hose, and peeing outdoors.</font>" But they didn't do a thing against the Parkland shooter. And, don't get me wrong, that was the smart thing to do - they would have ended up dead. But the police seem to have become the most dangerous gang on the streets while contributing increasingly less value to the community. <p>Juan Cole, "<a href="https://www.juancole.com/2018/03/emirates-israel-alliance.html">Did an Emirates-Israel alliance Help elect Trump more than Russia?</a> <p>Lee Camp at <em>Truthdig</em>. "<a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/six-ways-resistance-gave-trump-dictators-toolkit/">Six Ways the 'Resistance' Gave Trump a Dictator’s Toolkit</a>: <font color=maroon>My longtime arch-nemesis, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) - which I thought we had vanquished after years of stabbing, kicking and choking it - may now be rising from the dead like a zombie, like a vampire, like a Jeff Sessions. And this is yet another sign that the so-called Democratic 'Resistance' is a joke so big it has to buy two airplane seats.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>What does this have to do with the so-called Democratic 'resistance'? Well, there's a reason Trump has such an outsize trade authority - a reason your mainstream media would rather you forget. Obama handed this trade authority to Trump on a silver platter. Back in 2015, Congress, under pressure from the Obama administration, voted to give the president, any president, unlimited trade authority for the next six years. This means Congress cannot change a word of any trade deal Trump approves.</font>" <p><em>Beat the Press</em>, "<a href="http://cepr.net/blogs/beat-the-press/hey-folks-looks-like-corporate-america-hasn-t-heard-about-the-trump-tax-cuts">Hey Folks, Looks Like Corporate America Hasn't Heard About the Trump Tax Cuts</a>: <font color=maroon>News must travel slowly to corporate headquarters these days. How else can we explain the fact that corporate America isn't rushing out to invest in response to the big tax cut Congress voted them last year?</font> [...] <font color=maroon>If the tax cuts matter for investment, then companies like GE, Microsoft, and Amazon were making plans as soon as it became clear that the Republican majority in Congress was serious about passing a tax bill. The fact that we are seeing zero evidence of an uptick in investment suggests that tax cuts don't have much impact on investment. Rather than being about promoting economic growth that would lead to productivity gains and higher wages for ordinary workers, the tax cuts were actually just another way to redistribute more money upward. As Speaker Ryan always says: #RichPeopleNeedTaxCuts.</font>" <p>David Cay Johnston, "<a href="https://www.dcreport.org/2018/03/02/heres-why-donald-trump-is-in-the-white-house/">Here's Why Donald Trump Is In The White House: New Data Show Falling Incomes Through the Obama Years</a> [...] <font color=maroon>The average income on 2016 tax returns shows that people effectively lost one week of income compared to 2015. The average was $67,755, down almost $1,300 from the year before when adjusted for inflation, my analysis of new IRS Table 1 preliminary data shows.</font>" <p><a href="https://www.tor.com/2018/03/01/fritz-foy-named-president-and-publisher-of-tor-and-forge-books/">CONGRATULATIONS</a>: "<font color=maroon><b>Patrick Nielsen Hayden</b>, Associate Publisher, is now also Vice President and Editor-in-Chief of Tor Books, reporting to me. Patrick's 29 years at Tor, coupled with his encyclopedic knowledge of the industry and his award-winning editing skills, make him perfect for this key role that will help us to continue to grow the business.</font>" <p>REST IN PEACE: "<a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/pearls-before-swine-band-mastermind-tom-rapp-dead-at-70-w516656">Pearls Before Swine Band Mastermind <b>Tom Rapp</b> Dead at 70</a>: <font color=maroon>Psych folk legend also worked as civil rights lawyer</font>" <p>REST IN PEACE: "<a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/barry-crimmins-comedian-and-activist-dead-at-64-w517272"><b>Barry Crimmins</b>, Comedian and Activist, Dead at 64</a> [...] <font color=maroon>Crimmins was a stalwart in the Boston stand-up scene during the Eighties and became known for his powerful monologues and scathing political satire. Along with performing, he founded two clubs, the Ding Ho and Stitches, where he produced an array of shows that featured burgeoning comics like Goldthwait, Steven Wright, Kevin Meaney and Paula Poundstone.</font>" There are some videos there at <em>The Rolling Stone</em>'s article and more at the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2018/mar/02/barry-crimmins-the-stand-up-comic-who-stood-up-for-those-who-couldnt">Guardian</a>. Longtime readers of <em>The Sideshow</em> will remember that Barry was a mainstay of the liberal web in the days of <em>Bartcop</em>, <em>Media Whores Online</em>. and the early blogging days. <p>REST IN PEACE: "<a href="http://variety.com/2018/tv/news/nanette-fabray-dead-dies-band-wagon-hollywood-squares-1202709309/"><b>Nanette Fabray</b>, TV Star of the '50s and '60s, Dies at 97</a>" One of those actors who was on the screen my entire life. I noticed she had gone only because Marlee Matlin <a href="https://twitter.com/MarleeMatlin/status/967249159928639488">tweeted</a>: "<font color=maroon>A follower shared this very sweet video of <a href="https://youtu.be/bj8rs0UUw7w">Nanette Fabray signing 'Over the Rainbow'</a> on the Carol Burnett Show. It was probably the first time anyone signed on network TV.</font>" <p>REST IN PEACE: "<a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/the-crystals-singer-barbara-ann-alston-dead-at-74-w517091">The Crystals Singer <b>Barbara Ann Alston Dead</b> at 74</a>, <font color=maroon> following a two-week battle with the flu.</font>" I can't pick my favorite of their songs, but here she is singing lead on "<a href="https://youtu.be/G0il2Qd3jcs">Uptown</a>". (Oh, okay, she didn't sing lead on "<a href="https://youtu.be/v-qqi7-Q19k">Da Doo Ron Ron</a>". but here it is anyway.) <p>REST IN PEACE: "<a href="http://variety.com/2018/tv/news/david-ogden-stiers-dead-dies-mash-1202716860/"><b>David Ogden Stiers</b>, Major Winchester on 'MASH,' Dies at 75</a>. [...] <font color=maroon>Indeed, it was his voice that earned him his first screen credit - as the announcer in George Lucas' 1971 film <em>THX 1138</em>.</font>" <p>REST IN PERDITION: <b>Billy Graham</b>, <a href="http://therealnews.com/t2/story:21188:How-Billy-Graham-Evangelized-for-American-Empire">Evangelist for American Empire</a> and homophobia, at 99. <p>Tom Sullivan, "<a href="https://digbysblog.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/this-is-what-more-looks-like-by.html">This is what more looks like</a>: <font color=maroon>Want to know one reason why Democrats get no traction in the Plains States? I tried to email Kansas, South Dakota, and Montana counties yesterday and got pissed off. The white counties in otherwise red-shaded states are either unorganized or have no email or Facebook contact information on the state party websites (and probably not even a Facebook page not listed there). That's 40 percent of Kansas counties, half of Montana, and 70 percent of South Dakota. That's counties, not population, naturally. Okay, very rural, low-density areas I have the luxury of not trying to organize. And maybe it is because there are no Democrats out there. Even so. Those states elect U.S. senators. If Democrats don't show up to play, they forfeit. Look at south-central Georgia. So, I don't want to hear "This is the most important election of our lifetime" again. Ever. Because if you think short-term, you never invest in the future. As they say around the office, "Why is there never time to do it right, but always time to do it over?" Democrats do it over - and over - on a two-year cycle, in many places starting each time from scratch.</font>" <p>"<a href="http://inthesetimes.com/article/20930/depressed-anxious-blame-neoliberalism">Depressed? Anxious? Blame Neoliberalism.</a> [...] <font color=maroon>Throughout the day, some of the country's most important scientists spoke about their research into these problems. Yet, as the day went on, something baffled me. If all you knew about depression, anxiety and addiction was what was presented at this day-long conference, you would have thought these conditions were caused by malfunctions in people's brains. We looked at pictures of brain scans and talked about internal brain mechanisms. One group of scientists said they aimed to eradicate depression by 2050 - but the focus of their research was entirely biological.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>As Margaret Thatcher put it when I was a kid, 'There's no such thing as society. There are individual men and women and there are families.' Neoliberalism poses many problems, but perhaps the most neglected is that it has supercharged our current crisis of depression and anxiety. All human beings have natural psychological needs: to feel we belong, to feel we are secure, to feel we are valued, to feel we have a secure future we can understand. These are ingrained in us all. Neoliberalism does a very poor job of meeting these psychological needs, in part because its theory of human nature doesn't match with human nature.</font> <p>"<a href="https://kotaku.com/there-was-a-1908-board-game-about-women-fighting-cops-i-1823346670">There Was A 1908 Board Game About Women Fighting Cops In The Streets</a>" - called <em>Suffragetto</em>. <p><a href="https://twitter.com/ComicsKingdom/status/970462373927469056/photo/1">A recent appearance by Miss Boop</a> <p>They look like photographs but they're drawings: <a href="http://www.kelvinokaforart.com/gallery_716265.html">The art of Kelvin Okafor</a>. <p><a href="http://www.thelingerieaddict.com/2017/12/beautiful-japanese-bras-lingerie.html">These bras</a> are exactly the opposite of what I love about Wacoal, but they are so beautiful I almost wish for them. <p>Pearls Before Swine, "<a href="https://youtu.be/3wPIsXO9utw">Another Time</a>"Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-60830503195303113762018-02-18T05:21:00.000+00:002018-02-18T05:21:46.698+00:00And sometimes there are no words<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hqyD_aHVbsM/WokNGFQSXNI/AAAAAAAAB08/_oI99uL5LyUAT-P2AI_mWhblRJJkUVfZwCLcBGAs/s1600/snowing.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hqyD_aHVbsM/WokNGFQSXNI/AAAAAAAAB08/_oI99uL5LyUAT-P2AI_mWhblRJJkUVfZwCLcBGAs/s320/snowing.gif" width="320" height="284" data-original-width="573" data-original-height="509" /></a></div> <p>Last month's weird story about a raid on <em>Newsweek/IBT</em> offices was followed by David Sirota's announcement that he was resigning the publications. It seems management was playing a bit fast and loose with the laws on fraud and money laundering. "<a href="http://www.adweek.com/tv-video/newsweeks-top-editors-and-a-reporter-let-go-amid-turmoil/">Newsweek's Top Editors and a Reporter Let Go Amid Turmoil</a>: <font color=maroon>Less than a week after both the chairman and finance director of Newsweek Media Group stepped down, several of the publication's top editors and reporters are also out. While some were let go, at least one has resigned. Bob Roe, editor in chief of Newsweek since August, and Ken Li, the publication's executive editor, were dismissed Monday. It's not clear yet why they were let go. Celeste Katz, who had been reporting on a Manhattan District Attorney's office probe of the Newsweek Media Group, was also dismissed. 'I'll sleep well tonight - and I'm looking for a job!' she tweeted late Monday. Another reporter who had been looking into the company, Josh Keefe, tweeted, 'I have not been fired, although that was very clearly the plan.' Matthew Cooper, who's worked twice for Newsweek, first in the 1990s and again since 2014, resigned. 'I've never seen more reckless leadership,' Cooper wrote in his resignation letter to NMG CEO Dev Pragad, which Cooper published to Facebook, adding 'I'm resigning from Newsweek at the end of the business today. Perhaps that's moot since the staff has been sent home and the magazine, for all we know, doesn't exist.' This morning, another Newsweek and IBT reporter, David Sirota announced his resignation from the company.</font>" And then there's this story: "<a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek-editors-blast-executive-to-his-face-what-youre-doing-is-bullshit-you-dont-understand-journalism">Newsweek Editors Blast Exec to His Face: 'What You're Doing Is Bulls**t. You Don't Understand Journalism.'</a>: <font color=maroon>During an increasingly ugly meeting, the company's CCO refused to answer whether money laundering allegations were true and blamed staff for undermining the business.</font>" Anyway, David Sirota is looking for a job and health care for his family. <p>"<a href="https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Marijuana-Criminal-Cases-Dropped-En-Masse-by-Philadelphia-District-Attorney-Larry-Krasner-474228023.html">Marijuana Criminal Cases Dropped En Masse by Philadelphia District Attorney</a>: <font color=maroon>The new DA's message to police who arrest people for simple pot possession: We're going to drop the charges.</font>" <p>"<a href="http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/article200182509.html">Abolition of death penalty gets closer to reality as bill clears Washington state Senate</a>: <font color=maroon>Efforts to eliminate Washington's death penalty in the 2018 legislative session continued to break new ground Wednesday when a bill banning the practice passed the Senate. The 26-22 vote marks the latest - and what some lawmakers say is the strongest - push to repeal the death penalty as a possible punishment for aggravated first-degree murder. That punishment would be replaced with life without parole if the bill is signed into law.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://consortiumnews.com/2018/02/17/anti-trumpists-use-mueller-indictments-to-escalate-tensions-with-nuclear-armed-russia/">Anti-Trumpists Use Mueller Indictments to Escalate Tensions With Nuclear-Armed Russia</a>: <font color=maroon>Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller's indictment of 13 alleged members of a Russian troll farm is leading to calls for escalation with Russia, exacerbating tensions that are already at historic - and dangerous - lows, observes Caitlin Johnstone.</font>" <p>Jonathan Cohn, "<a href="https://medium.com/@JonathanCohn/without-the-votes-of-these-12-dems-the-house-gops-assault-on-the-ada-would-have-failed-d923b959256c">Without the Votes of these 12 Dems, the House GOP's Assault on the ADA Would Have Failed</a>: <font color=maroon>On Wednesday, House Republicans celebrated Valentine's Day by attacking consumer protections and financial regulations. The next day, amidst the national mourning following the tragedy in Parkland, Florida, House Republicans voted to turn the clock backwards on civil rights. Just like Social Security and Medicare 'reform' often means dismemberment, so, too, was ADA Education and Reform Act of 2017 about weakening this landmark law protecting the rights of those with disabilities.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://downwithtyranny.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/how-to-root-republican-fakers-out-of.html">How To Root The Republican Fakers Out Of Democratic Primaries-- Joseph Kopser Just Made It Very East In TX-21</a>: <font color=maroon>The Texas primaries are coming up in just under 3 weeks-- followed by primary runoffs on May 22. And those primaries-- with so many vulnerable red seats and so many seats Republican incumbents are abandoning-- are crowded. TX-21 is a super-gerrymandered district that starts up in West Campus and the Drag in Austin, skirts the state Capitol, takes in Downtown before crossing the Colorado River to encompass Travis Heights, South Lamar and Sunset Valley before heading down through Buda, the western part of both San Marcos and New Braunfels before hitting Alamo Heights, Olmos Park, Terrell Hills, Fort Sam Houston and Government Hill in San Antonio. To the west of that skinny corridor from south Austin to north San Antonio is a big chunk of less populated Hill Country that includes Boerne, Frederickcburg, Bandera, Medina way out to Camp Wood on the Nueces River. May back last April we started warning our friends in San Antonio-- people in Austin already knew-- that one of the Democratic candidates, Joseph Kopser, was really a Republican trying to pass himself off as a Democrat.</font>" You know what comes next, right? <p>David Dayen at <em>The Intercept</em>, "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/02/01/cfpb-mick-mulvaney-lending-housing-discrimination/">After Boasting About Lowering Black Unemployment, Donald Trump Undermines The Federal Unit Defending Against Housing Discrimination</a>: <font color=maroon>DURING THE PRESIDENTIAL campaign, Donald Trump's pitch to the black community was direct: 'What the hell do you have to lose?' On Tuesday night, he stood before the nation and boasted about the lowest unemployment rate on record for African-Americans. But just hours before his State of the Union address, his lieutenant and handpicked head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Mick Mulvaney, told staff in an email that he was seizing control of the unit responsible for policing anti-lending-discrimination laws. CFPB Acting Director Mulvaney, in a previously unreported move, said that he would be putting the Office of Fair Lending and Equal Opportunity, or OFLEO, under his direct control, startling consumer protection and civil rights advocates, and raising concerns that the office would be unable to carry out its mission - and that, indeed, that was the very purpose of the shift.</font>" As a side note, <em>The Washington Post</em> seems to be grabbing credit for this story although their version looks remarkably like David's, which was published first. <p>"<a href="http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2018/02/13/pittsburgh-judge-landlords-no-evictions">'Socialist' Judge, Refusing To Evict Tenants, Rankles City Landlords</a>: <font color=maroon>PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Luxury apartment buildings are going up, rents are going up, and guess what else? Evictions are going up as more and more people are being tossed out of their apartments for non-payment of rent. 'We have a crisis in housing in this city. Poor people are being forced out of the city,' said Mel Packer, an affordable housing advocate. Recently-elected District Justice Mik Pappas ran on a platform of stemming that tide by making landlords more accountable in court.</font>" <p>Dday at <em>In These Times</em>, "<a href="http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/20881/Amazon-workers-jobs-economic-policy-institute-warehouse-company">Cities Scrambling to Attract Amazon Because It 'Creates Jobs' Are Being Sold a Lie</a>: <font color=maroon>Using Bureau of Labor Statistics data, EPI researchers Ben Zipperer and Janelle Jones analyzed what happens to employment in a county once Amazon builds a fulfillment center. Though warehousing and storage jobs do increase, the net effect is close to nil, as new jobs are offset by losses elsewhere in the county. The findings mean that all the money poured into Amazon on the promise of job creation is essentially a waste. 'It doesn't increase overall private sector employment,' Jones, an economic analyst with EPI, tells In These Times. 'No matter how much you slice this data, it's just not there.'</font>" <p>"<a href="http://komonews.com/news/local/ice-lawyer-in-seattle-charged-with-stealing-immigrants-ids">ICE lawyer in Seattle charged with stealing immigrants' IDs</a>: <font color=maroon>The chief counsel for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Seattle has been charged with stealing immigrants' identities. Raphael A. Sanchez, who resigned from the agency effective Monday, faces one count of aggravated identity theft and another of wire fraud in a charging document filed Monday in U.S. District Court.</font>" <p>Zaid Jilani, "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/02/01/michigan-governor-race-muslim-abdul-el-sayed/">Democrats Anonymously Target Muslim Candidate, Questioning His Eligibility To Run For Michigan Governor</a>: <font color=maroon>ON THE SAME day that he unveiled an urban agenda that highlights public transportation, affordable housing, and criminal justice reform, Michigan gubernatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed came under fire in what he has described as a 'birther'-like campaign questioning his eligibility to run for governor. El-Sayed, a lifelong Michigander whose campaign has raised nearly $2 million, could be the first Muslim-American governor in the United States. He is considered the most serious challenger to Democratic frontrunner Gretchen Whitmer ahead of the August primary. And on Monday, Bridge, a Michigan magazine, published an article saying the stint El-Sayed spent as a medical student and professor at Columbia University in New York between 2013 and 2016 could be used against him, writing that 'questions surrounding El-Sayed's candidacy are an open secret among Democrats, particularly in southeast Michigan.'</font>" This is pure bollocks, since he never gave up his Michigan residence and has consistently voted there, but I can't help wondering where these "Democratic" heroes were when Dick Cheney illegally stood as George W. Bush's runningmate in 2000, even though they were both residents of the same state. <p>"<a href="http://therealnews.com/t2/story:21008:Democratic-Establishment-Tries-To-Keep-Progressives-Off-Congressional-Ballots">Democratic Establishment Tries To Keep Progressives Off Congressional Ballots</a>: <font color=maroon>Several grassroots and progressive congressional candidates are facing expensive lawsuits from the Democratic establishment, which is challenging their ballot petitions in hopes of clearing the primary field.</font>" <p>James Risen, "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/02/09/donald-trump-russia-election-nsa/">U.S. Secretly negotiated with Russians to buy stolen NSA documents - and the Russians offered Trump-related material, too</a>: <font color=maroon>THE UNITED STATES intelligence community has been conducting a top-secret operation to recover stolen classified U.S. government documents from Russian operatives, according to sources familiar with the matter. The operation has also inadvertently yielded a cache of documents purporting to relate to Donald Trump and Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Over the past year, American intelligence officials have opened a secret communications channel with the Russian operatives, who have been seeking to sell both Trump-related materials and documents stolen from the National Security Agency and obtained by Russian intelligence, according to people involved with the matter and other documentary evidence. The channel started developing in early 2017, when American and Russian intermediaries began meeting in Germany. Eventually, a Russian intermediary, apparently representing some elements of the Russian intelligence community, agreed to a deal to sell stolen NSA documents back to the U.S. while also seeking to include Trump-related materials in the package. The CIA declined to comment on the operation. The NSA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.</font>" <p>"<a href="http://thehill.com/policy/international/372772-israeli-police-recommend-indicting-netanyahu-for-corruption-report">Israeli police recommend indicting Netanyahu for corruption: report</a>: <font color=maroon>Israeli police chiefs will recommend to the country's attorney general that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu be indicted on corruption charges, according to reports in local media. The Times of Israel reported Wednesday that police chiefs, including the general commissioner of Israel's police force, were in 'unanimous agreement' that Netanyahu should be indicted for allegedly accepting bribes and receiving lavish gifts from wealthy benefactors, including Israeli-born Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2018/02/11/health/aetna-california-investigation/index.html">California launches investigation following stunning admission by Aetna medical director</a>: <font color=maroon>California's insurance commissioner has launched an investigation into Aetna after learning a former medical director for the insurer admitted under oath he never looked at patients' records when deciding whether to approve or deny care.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.riverfronttimes.com/newsblog/2018/02/14/after-annie-rices-victory-democrats-weigh-punishing-her-supporters">After Annie Rice's Victory, Democrats Weigh Punishing Her Supporters</a>: <font color=maroon>Last night, Annie Rice won a resounding victory, with nearly 60 percent of 8th ward voters choosing her to represent them on the city's Board of Aldermen. But later this month, the Democratic Central Committee will weigh a bylaw change directly aimed at punishing Rice's supporters. If members approve the proposed amendments, anyone who "supports or endorses" candidates like Rice "shall be subject to censure." Committee members who follow in Rice's footsteps and run for office without the party's blessing could face removal. The ugly situation says a lot about the mutinous mood - and old guard pushback - roiling the St. Louis Democratic Party these days. Progressives have taken aim at the Democratic establishment in recent years, winning some key victories (Bruce Franks Jr. for state rep) and coming tantalizingly close in others (Tishaura Jones for mayor). In St. Louis, it's no longer enough to ask whether someone is running as a Democrat; the real question is whether they're allied with the upstart progressive wing or the establishment one allied with the powers that be and the party's longstanding donors (developers, lawyers, lobbyists).</font>" <p>"<a href="http://www.wsbtv.com/news/2-investigates/home-depot-destroys-1-million-pounds-of-supplies-in-wake-of-hurricane/691725218">Home Depot destroys 1 million pounds of supplies in wake of hurricane</a>: <font color=maroon>ST. THOMAS, Virgin Islands - A trip along the winding mountain countryside in Saint Thomas reveals scenes that are not scattered across network news shows anymore.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>The company crushed one million pounds worth of goods, according to Waste Management records obtained by Channel 2 Action News. They were sent to a local landfill and claimed on the company's insurance - rather than sorted for hurricane survivors.</font>" <p><em>FAIR</em>, "<a href="https://fair.org/home/us-stumbled-into-torture-says-nyt-reporter">US 'stumbled into torture,' says NYT reporter</a>" - Apparently, the poor old bumbling US just accidentally stared torturing people. <p><em>Beat the Press</em>, "<a href="http://cepr.net/blogs/beat-the-press/charles-lane-and-the-washington-post-continue-attack-on-unions-disturbed-to-discover-the-importance-of-precedent-in-court-decisions">Charles Lane and the Washington Post Continue Attack on Unions: Disturbed to Discover the Importance of Precedent in Court Decisions</a>." <p>"<a href="http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Report-Recording-released-of-Clinton-suggesting-rigging-2006-Palestinian-election-471129">Report: Recording Released Of Clinton Suggesting Rigging 2006 Palestinian Election</a>: <font color=maroon>Chomsky was "taken aback" that 'anyone could support the idea - offered by a national political leader, no less - that the US should be in the business of fixing foreign elections.'</font>" <p>"<a href="http://schultzstake.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/the-coming-republican-state-of-minnesota.html">The Coming Republican State of Minnesota?</a>" Everyone thinks of it as a blue state, but like so many other places, it's been hollowed out. <p>On <em>The Majority Report</em>: <br>* <a href="https://youtu.be/mXPbL5Q0elg">White American Youth w/ Christian Picciolini</a> - how he got into a nasty race hate group, and how he got out of it. <br>* <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-VcEpfljNU">What the Democratic Establishment Demands w/ Ryan Grim</a> <p>Atrios on <a href="http://www.eschatonblog.com/2018/01/saturday-evening.html">bipartisan compromise</a>: "<font color=maroon>I think it's a bit... out of date... but I at least get why members of Congress used to blather on about bipartisan this and bipartisan that. And, yes, of course sometimes compromise is necessary and it's nice if people can work together, though the outcome is the thing, not the process (This is the part our political press does not understand. It does not matter if TipnRonnie have beers, it matters what they do before and after). The scary thing is some senators really... believe it? They think they've been elected to form gangs and go the gym together or whatever. Strange people. I'm looking at you Claire McCaskill. Stop it.</font>" <p>Atrios on the <a href="http://www.eschatonblog.com/2018/01/shutdown.html">Shutdown</a>: "<font color=maroon>John Kelly is as big a racist xenophobe as Stephen Miller, if perhaps for different reasons, and you can't make a deal with bestest boy Donald about immigration (or anything) because they'll run interference and get him to "reconsider." The New York Times reporters spent all last night (in their shitty newspaper and on the twitters) blaming Democrats for the shutdown, because it's always their fault, so cancel your subscriptions. Please. I am so sick of this shitty newspaper destroying our politics. From Whitewater to Iraq to Clinton Cash to Emails to Maggie when will people learn. It is a bad newspaper. Local media is often horrible but at least they cover things that nobody else does so give your guilt money to them instead.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://apnews.com/ae4b40a720b74ad8a9b0bfe65f7a9c29">Kept out: How banks block people of color from homeownership</a>: <font color=maroon>PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Fifty years after the federal Fair Housing Act banned racial discrimination in lending, African Americans and Latinos continue to be routinely denied conventional mortgage loans at rates far higher than their white counterparts. This modern-day redlining persisted in 61 metro areas even when controlling for applicants' income, loan amount and neighborhood, according to millions of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act records analyzed by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting.</font>" <p>RIP: <a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/02/john-perry-barlow-internet-pioneer-1947-2018"><b>John Perry Barlow</b>, Internet Pioneer, 1947-2018</a>. Most of the obits I've seen so far concentrate on his life and work as a founder of the Electronic Frontiers Foundation (EFF), but we first heard of him as a songwriting collaborator with his friend Bob Weir. JPB introduced the Grateful Dead to Tim Leary back in the Millbrook days. He was still a charismatic guy when I met him in the '90s when Feminists Against Censorship was working with other groups concerned with internet censorship. <p>"<a href="https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2018/02/the-butcher-builders-how-western-journalists-helpe.html">The Butcher Builders: How Western Journalists Helped Create a Monster in Russia</a>: <font color=maroon>The Soviet Union's collapse left Russia in disarray, but key figures in the administration of President Boris Yeltsin - namely deputy prime minister Yegor Gaidar and privatization chief Anatoly Chubais - had plans to transform the country's failing economy into a robust free market. This presented a unique business opportunity for western capitalists. The Clinton administration needed no convincing, eagerly sending economists from the Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID) under the direction of professor Andrei Shleifer to advise the Russian government in its transition. What ensued was 'shock therapy' - rapid deregulation, easing price controls, and privatization of state assets including social services, occurring in two waves: a voucher program and later the notorious 'loans-for-shares.' In the end, the effort failed. Shleifer, his wife, Nancy Zimmerman, and his colleague Jonathan Hay were embroiled in a scandal for using their position to personally enrich themselves, and had to settle with the U.S. government. Russia was left in ruins. The attempted transformation had left a small class of oligarchs (including Chubais) enriched, and had plunged the country into a deep depression that lasted from 1991 until the millennium (although its impact lasted well into the '00s). Large amounts of wealth exited the former Soviet Union, the ruble hyperinflated, pensions became worthless, job security disappeared, and GDP plummeted by orders of magnitude - by some estimates as much as 40 percent between '91 and '98. Organized crime was rampant, fueled by oligarchs, and street violence became commonplace. Adult mortality rose at a rate one study described as 'unprecedented in a modern industrialised country in peacetime.' By 2009, roughly 7 million Russians had died.</font>" <p>I have a problem with an assumption in this article that progressives (or whoever) who concentrate on economic issues (and particularly Bernie Sanders), are people who have "a class analysis and not a race analysis." I believe that if you start with a race analysis you will, like Dr. King and Malcom X, eventually come to see the economic analysis as vital. After all, most of us <em>did</em> start with a race analysis first, and that led to all the broader issues. (Hillary Clinton wasn't one of them. How could someone who claims to care about racial issues have thought ending "welfare as we know it" and militarizing the police, privatizing prisons, and creating harsher laws could do anything but exacerbate the already perilous position of the black community? Although, since structural racists have always understood the importance of preventing black Americans from having wealth and freedom, maybe she knew perfectly well - she was, after all, a Goldwater Girl while MLK was talking about class.) So this article has it backwards - that too many people haven't made the connection yet that you aren't going to get anywhere addressing race alone and overlooking class. But maybe having it spelled out this way will help them do that. "<a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/02/how-can-democrats-connect-identity-politics-to-economics.html">How Can Democrats Connect 'Identity Politics' to Economics?</a>" <p>Ian Welsh, "<a href="http://www.ianwelsh.net/how-to-solve-londons-housing-problems-and-canadas/">How To Solve London's Housing Problems (And Canada's)</a>: <font color=maroon>So, two lovely facts about London's housing market. First: <br>Londoners spend 72% of their income on rent. <br>Second: <br>Overseas buyers snap up majority of exclusive London homes <br>These two facts are related. <br>This is a problem with an obvious solution, do not allow non residents to buy housing in your country. Do not allow housing to be empty more than 3 months a year. If it is, and renovations are not actively ongoing (physically check to see if it is), then tax them at punitive rates (30% of the property value or more) and if after a year it still isn't, simply expropriate it, with no compensation.</font>" <p><a href="https://youtu.be/5iinBktRWJw">The Democrat from the Upside Down</a><br> (Via <em>Down With Tyranny!</em>, with "<a href="http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/youre-not-progressive-just-because-you.html">You're Not A Progressive Just Because You Mouth The Word 'Progressive'</a>.") <p>This is a long read but I found it hard to stop reading: "<a href="https://dem-detective.org/report-sanders-vs-trump-2016-chp1/">Report: A precise look at Sanders vs Trump in 2016</a>" - pretty compelling analysis of why it's most likely that Bernie would have won. <p>I think Ryan Cooper still gives too much credit here to neoliberals, but it's still a useful read. "<a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/the-rise-and-fall-of-clintonism/">Somewhere in Between: The rise and fall of Clintonism</a> [...] <font color=maroon>In the context of postwar politics, the upper class accommodated itself to a truce in the class war, for about three decades. But when the system came under strain, the elites launched a renewed class war, leveraging stagflation to destroy and devour the welfare state. Clintonism could work in the early stages of that process, buoyed by the economic bubble of the 1990s. But when the inevitable disaster struck, it would become an anchor around the neck of the Democratic Party - and it remains one to this day.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/02/09/democrats-cant-run-and-win-fact-trumps-idiot">Democrats Can't Run and Win on the Fact That Trump's an Idiot</a>: <font color=maroon>Voters Want an Alternative, Not Someone to Blame.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Polls show that the major reason eligible voters gave for not voting was that they were not interested in the issues being pushed in the campaigns or they disliked the candidates. And this makes sense, given that there's been a decades long campaign by the oligarchy to discredit government and glorify the private sector, using wedge issues, sophisticated marketing and branding strategies, and lots of money.</font>" <p>In <em>The Nation</em>, a consideration of the work of Lynne Segal (a founding member of Feminists Against Censorship), <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/feminist-living/">Feminist Living</a> [...] "<font color=maroon>To hold fast to this version of feminism in the Trump era is a bit like clinging to a pile of dynamite in the middle of a forest fire. Yet it's the only feminism that some women have ever known, and it's no easy feat to convince them that the individual power a woman might amass through self-involvement and self-promotion - and almost inevitably at the expense of other, less advantaged women - is not synonymous with true liberation. Now 73, and having devoted nearly her entire adult life to prioritizing collective triumph over individual, Segal confronts a devastating possibility: 'Have we feminists wasted our time on politics?'</font>" <p>"<font color=maroon>In 1990, a homeless man looked me in the eye and said, 'You aught to do a story about me.' <br>I asked him why. <br>'Because I've played in three Super Bowls.' <br>Now, finally, here's the entire story, 28 years in the making.</font><br>"<a href="http://www.nola.com/living/index.ssf/2018/02/jackie_wallace_ted_jackson.html#incart_2box_nola_river_orleans_news">The search for Jackie Wallace</a>" <p>"<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/01/what-was-this-article-about-again/551603/">Why We Forget Most of the Books We Read</a>: <font color=maroon>... and the movies and TV shows we watch</font>" <p>Thanks as always to CMike and Mark for helping me out here. And helping me get through the winter, for that matter. And by the way, that last Laundry novel was seeming all too real when it was explained that agents of the Eldritch Horrors were responsible for the privatization of the Post Office. <p>Mason Williams, "<a href="https://youtu.be/n7pwW2xmyto">Classical Gas</a>"Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-79371619843078600172018-02-01T00:10:00.000+00:002018-02-01T00:10:12.826+00:00Now you know I'd try<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yFVffoSFj8M/WnJafJDk76I/AAAAAAAAB0s/j6aLjwhT3g40JWPgdFFU1Umf9QUT9zzogCLcBGAs/s1600/WinterMagic.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yFVffoSFj8M/WnJafJDk76I/AAAAAAAAB0s/j6aLjwhT3g40JWPgdFFU1Umf9QUT9zzogCLcBGAs/s320/WinterMagic.png" width="320" height="320" data-original-width="500" data-original-height="500" /></a></div> <p><a href="https://twitter.com/SenSanders/status/958549961049751552">Bernie Sanders responds to the State of the Union Address</a> <p>"<a href="https://thinkprogress.org/democrats-vote-for-anti-choice-azar-ba774ecd39bf/">6 Senate Democrats put confirmation of Trump HHS nominee with fringe views over the top</a>: <font color=maroon>Six Dems voted for an anti-choice candidate who once helped big pharma game patents for profit.</font>" Note that the vote was 55-43. <br>* But there is always worse to come. The other day <a href="https://twitter.com/JonathanCohn/status/955959722041073669">Jonathan Cohn tweeted</a>: <font color=maroon>Fun fact: Democrats actually had a majority in the Senate today. Three Republicans were absent, making the body 49-48. But don't worry -- Democrats still allowed Trump's nominees to sail through!</font>" <p>"<a href="http://time.com/5113472/donald-trump-solar-panel-tariff/">President Trump Slaps Tariffs on Solar Panels in Major Blow to Renewable Energy</a> [...] <font color=maroon>The U.S. will impose duties of as much as 30 percent on solar equipment made abroad, a move that threatens to handicap a $28 billion industry that relies on parts made abroad for 80 percent of its supply. Just the mere threat of tariffs has shaken solar developers in recent months, with some hoarding panels and others stalling projects in anticipation of higher costs. The Solar Energy Industries Association has projected tens of thousands of job losses in a sector that employed 260,000. The tariffs are just the latest action Trump has taken that undermine the economics of renewable energy. The administration has already decided to pull the U.S. out of the international Paris climate agreement, rolled back Obama-era regulations on power plant-emissions and passed sweeping tax reforms that constrained financing for solar and wind. The import taxes, however, will prove to be the most targeted strike on the industry yet.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/ex-justice-dept-lawyer-peddled-secret-us-whistleblower-suits-to-try-to-impress-his-bosses-with-new-clients/2018/01/24/49b7d934-e414-11e7-a65d-1ac0fd7f097e_story.html?utm_term=.d04d19eee33c">Ex-Justice Dept. lawyer offered to sell secret U.S. whistleblower lawsuits to targets of the complaints</a>: <font color=maroon>Jeffrey Wertkin had a plot to bring in business and impress his new partners after joining one of Washington's most influential law firms. As a former high-stakes corporate-fraud prosecutor with the Department of Justice, he had secretly stockpiled sealed lawsuits brought by whistleblowers. Now, he would sell copies of the suits to the very targets of the pending government investigations - and his services to defend them. Wertkin carried out his plan for months, right up until the day an FBI agent arrested him in a California hotel lobby.</font>" <p>"<a href="http://www.9news.com/mobile/article/news/satanic-temple-beats-missouri-in-showdown-over-abortion-rights/63-511231989">Satanic Temple Beats Missouri In Showdown Over Abortion Rights</a> [...] <font color=maroon>JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - On Wednesday, Missouri's Solicitor General D. John Sauer declared ultrasounds are not required to obtain an abortion in Missouri, according to a press release from the Satanic Temple. The move comes after a showdown in the Missouri Supreme Court after a group called the Satanic Temple fought the state's abortion restrictions on behalf of an anonymous woman.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/01/24/nsa-core-values-honesty-deleted/">NSA Deletes 'Honesty' And 'Openness' From Core Values</a> [...] <font color=maroon>On January 12, however, the NSA removed the mission statement page - which can still be viewed through the Internet Archive - and replaced it with a new version. Now, the parts about honesty and the pledge to be truthful have been deleted. The agency's new top value is 'commitment to service,' which it says means 'excellence in the pursuit of our critical mission.'</font>" <p>"<a href="http://www.courant.com/politics/hc-pol-ned-lamont-governors-race-20180117-story.html">Ned Lamont Jumps Into Connecticut Governor's Race</a>: <font color=maroon>ed Lamont, the Greenwich millionaire who rose to national prominence when he defeated then-Sen. Joseph Lieberman in a 2006 Democratic primary, is entering the crowded contest to become Connecticut's next governor, his second bid for the office.</font>" This is a story I hope no one has forgotten, because leadership Dems tried hard to beat Lamont, but when he won anyway and became the Democratic nominee, they joined up with Republicans to make sure he lost. <p>Here's Howie Klein talking about <a href="archives.ianmasters.com/sites/default/files/mp3/bbriefing_2018_01_24c_howie%20klein.mp3 ">how the Democratic leadership screws the Democratic Party and the country</a>. Well, it's not called that, but that's what it's about - how Republicans beat us because the Democratic leadership is spending so many resources beating back progressives that they even recruit Republicans to help them do it. Honest to gods, it's a scandal. <br>* Howie also spoke to <a href="https://youtu.be/V2CADGuvcJY">Nicole Sandler</a> on the same subject. He's been writing <a href="http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/can-pelosi-and-hoyer-kill-wave.html">about this</a>, of course. <p>Lee Fang and Ryan Grim have been talking to Howie after watching the Democratic fifth column in action, and they have a detailed piece in <em>The Intercept</em> on just this phenomenon. "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/01/23/dccc-democratic-primaries-congress-progressives/">The Dead Enders</a>: <font color=maroon>Candidates Who Signed Up to Battle Donald Trump Must Get Past the Democratic Party First.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>In his farewell address, President Barack Obama had some practical advice for those frustrated by his successor. 'If you're disappointed by your elected officials, grab a clipboard, get some signatures, and run for office yourself,' Obama implored. Yet across the country, the DCCC, its allied groups, or leaders within the Democratic Party are working hard against some of these new candidates for Congress, publicly backing their more established opponents, according to interviews with more than 50 candidates, party operatives, and members of Congress. Winning the support of Washington heavyweights, including the DCCC - implicit or explicit - is critical for endorsements back home and a boost to fundraising. In general, it can give a candidate a tremendous advantage over opponents in a Democratic primary.</font>" A fundamental component of the DCCC's losing strategy: "<font color=maroon>James Thompson, who lost a close special election in Kansas and is again running for the Wichita seat in 2018, said the DCCC is specific about why it wants candidates to raise money. 'They want you to spend a certain amount of money on consultants, and it's their list of consultants you have to choose from,' he said. Those consultants tend to be DCCC veterans. A memo the party committee sent to candidates in December lays out some of the demands the DCCC made around spending.</font>" <p>On <em>The Majority Report</em>: <br>* <a href="https://youtu.be/G4vo0l-rviM">James Risen on his Battles w/ Bush, Obama, and the New York Times - MR Live - 1/24/18</a><br>* <a href="https://youtu.be/4dduBkORvug">The Death Gap: How Inequality Kills w/ David Ansell - MR Live - 1/25/18</a> <p>Bernie Sanders led a <a href="https://youtu.be/1gfWv76Ab_I">National Medicare for All National Town Hall</a>, breaking the myths and giving the facts about single-payer systems. <p>Marcy Wheeler thinks Glenn Greenwald's take is different from her own, but she sees other problems with the Russia story, in <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/146725/glenn-greenwalds-women">All Glenn Greenwald's Women</a>," where she notes that, "<font color=maroon>A big profile of Greenwald neglects to cite even one woman - thereby missing crucial nuance in the story of Russia's meddling in the 2016 election.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/01/25/marijuana-legalization-weed-drug-arrest/">Despite Liberalizing Marijuana Laws, the War on Drugs Still Targets People of Color</a>: <font color=maroon>THE HUGE FAILURE we know as the 'war on drugs' is back in full force under the Trump administration, thanks in no small part to Attorney General Jeff Sessions's retrograde tough-on-crime approach to drugs. It's not hard to understand why someone like Sessions, with a history of racism, would love the war on drugs: In reality, it was always a war on a very particular set of people - and you can probably guess who those people are. And yet despite Sessions's best efforts, there's been a lot of progress on legalizing marijuana; opinions are changing and, in a lot of places, so are laws. At the intersection of these pushes to legalize weed and the so-called war on drugs, there are a bevy of major scandals unfolding, all of which are ravaging communities of color. And here's the thing about these scandals: They can't simply be blamed on President Donald Trump and his team. Instead, they're deeply rooted in a bipartisan type of anti-blackness.</font>" <p>Niko House is convinced that Bernie Sanders will run in 2020, and I wish he'd use a spell-checker, but I think most of what he says in "<a href="https://medium.com/@nikohouse/no-bernie-2020-will-not-be-the-same-as-2016-cd0dddde481a">No, Bernie 2020 Will Not Be The Same As 2016</a>" is on the mark. This is addressed to questions some of his crankier supporters have expressed about why he endorsed Clinton and made other noises they didn't like, and whether he should run as a third-party candidate. House doesn't address the age question (but with Biden throwing his hat in the ring, why should he?); however, "<font color=maroon>Bernie Sanders is not the perfect candidate. He is not the perfect human being. We may not even like all of his decisions. But there is no one else in his position that is speaking about universal healthcare at nationally televised town hall meetings. There is no one else telling the media that we need to get out of the middle east and stay out. There is no one else who speaks of ranked choice voting and election reform. And there is without a doubt no one else who has chained themselves to a Black woman in a valiant display of courage during the civil rights movement who is still preaching those same values today.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.coderednews.com/rumsfeld-memos-2018-01">A huge cache of Rumsfeld memos were just released - Here are the best ones</a>." Scott Horton liked the one about how apparently James Carville "volunteered to help in the information war." <p>"<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/los-angeles-times-scab-fears_us_5a6a09bbe4b06e2532657c66">Tronc Is Building A Shadow Newsroom Full Of Scabs, L.A. Times Staffers Fear</a>: <font color=maroon>A mysterious new management team appears to be quietly building a non-union network.</font>" <p>"<a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/11/identity-politics-cant-get-us-out-of-the-mess-racism-made.html">Racism May Have Gotten Us Into This Mess, But Identity Politics Can't Get Us Out</a> [...] <font color=maroon>My ultimate quibble with Coates's piece is with its pessimism - the presumption that the union between rich and poor whites, forged in the heat of antebellum anti-black antipathy, is America's destiny as well as its past. Coates argues that admitting race, rather than class, was the proximate cause of Trump's electoral victory would mean that leftists 'would have to cope with the failure, yet again, of class unity in the face of racism.' But that presupposes that class unity was attempted by the Democratic Establishment in 2016. Tragically, it was not. Perhaps, if it had been, there would be no need to address the phenomenon of our 'first white president.' We'd be discussing our first female president instead.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/mbpxx8/biden-trashes-millennials-in-his-quest-to-become-even-less-likable">Biden Trashes Millennials in His Quest to Become Even Less Likable</a>: <font color=maroon>'Give me a break,' he said of young people who 'think they have it tough.'</font>" <p>"<a href="https://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2007/09/27/fascism-a-false-revolution-by-michael-parenti-1996/">Fascism: A False Revolution by Michael Parenti (1996)</a> <p>JUST MARRIED; <a href="https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/01/19/fashion/weddings/two-active-duty-soldiers-marry-in-same-sex-wedding-at-west-point.html">Capt. Daniel Hall and Capt. Vincent Franchino</a>, Apache helicopter pilots, "<font color=maroon>on Jan. 13 in the Cadet Chapel at the United States Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., where they are believed to be the first active-duty, same-sex couple to exchange vows at the legendary Army post.</font>" <p>RIP: "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/23/obituaries/ursula-k-le-guin-acclaimed-for-her-fantasy-fiction-is-dead-at-88.html"><b>Ursula K. Le Guin</b>, Acclaimed for Her Fantasy Fiction, Is Dead at 88</a>: <font color=maroon>Ursula K. Le Guin, the immensely popular author who brought literary depth and a tough-minded feminist sensibility to science fiction and fantasy with books like <em>The Left Hand of Darkness</em> and the Earthsea series, died on Monday at her home in Portland, Ore. She was 88.</font>" She was our inspiration and our mentor and a lot of things. We owe her so much. And we loved her. Roz Kaveney wrote an <a href="https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/public/ursula-le-guin-kaveney/amp/">obituary for TLS</a>. <p>RIP: "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/27/obituaries/mort-walker-dead-beetle-bailey-cartoonist.html"><b>Mort Walker</b>, Creator of 'Beetle Bailey' Comic Strip, Dies at 94</a> [...] <font color=maroon>Mr. Walker had the longest tenure of any cartoonist on an original creation, King Features, which began its syndication of 'Beetle Bailey' in 1950, said in a statement. 'Little did I know when I was drafted that I was going to get almost four years of free research,' Mr. Walker recalled in his collection 'The Best of Beetle Bailey' (1984).</font>" <p>RIP: <a href="https://consortiumnews.com/2018/01/28/robert-parrys-legacy-and-the-future-of-consortiumnews/"><b>Robert Parry</b>, 68</a>, after a series of strokes and pancreatic cancer. Parry, founder of <em>Consortiumnews</em>, covered the Iran-Contra scandal for AP and <em>Newsweek</em> and popularized the phrase "October Surprise" after discovering the roots of Iran-Contra went all the way back to the 1980 presidential campaign. <em>Consortiumnews</em> was a vital part of the liberal internet from its inception in 1995, and as longtime readers of <em>The Sideshow</em> may recall, got links here from the very beginning. He was an inspiration to us old-school bloggers. <p>Buffalo Springfield, "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzMl0-bhNcM">Expecting to fly</a>" <br>Sometimes I can't believe how pretty this song is.Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-39722588214841415892018-01-23T03:36:00.001+00:002018-01-23T17:03:28.789+00:00But it all amounts to nothing if together we don't stand<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-05_l81qKdt8/WmatdjyjKmI/AAAAAAAAB0Y/ji-Y8UJ4PdsFeoFvsYWs4ZX2yIwI_WLRQCLcBGAs/s1600/WinterTyrolMounttainsAustria.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-05_l81qKdt8/WmatdjyjKmI/AAAAAAAAB0Y/ji-Y8UJ4PdsFeoFvsYWs4ZX2yIwI_WLRQCLcBGAs/s320/WinterTyrolMounttainsAustria.jpg" width="320" height="200" data-original-width="600" data-original-height="375" /></a></div> <p>Glenn Greenwald at <em>The Intercept</em>, "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/01/12/the-same-democrats-who-denounce-trump-as-a-lawless-treasonous-authoritarian-just-voted-to-give-him-vast-warrantless-spying-powers/">The Same Democrats Who Denounce Donald Trump as a Lawless, Treasonous Authoritarian Just Voted to Give Him Vast Warrantless Spying Powers</a> [...] <font color=maroon>LEADING THE CHARGE against reforms of the FBI's domestic spying powers was Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee who, in countless TV appearances, has strongly insinuated, if not outright stated, that Trump is controlled by and loyal to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Indeed, just this weekend, in an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper, Schiff accused Trump of corruptly abusing the powers of the DOJ and FBI in order to vindictively punish Hilary Clinton and other political enemies. Referring to Trump's various corrupt acts, Schiff pronounced: 'We ought to be thinking in Congress, Democrats and Republicans alike, beyond these three years what damage may be done to the institutions of our democracy.' Yet just two days later, there was the very same Adam Schiff, on the House floor, dismissing the need for real safeguards on the ability of Trump's FBI to spy on Americans. In demanding rejection of the warrant requirement safeguard, Schiff channeled Dick Cheney - and the Trump White House - in warning that any warrant requirements would constitute 'a crippling requirement in national security and terrorism cases.'</font>" <p>Senator Bernie Sanders spoke to Sam Seder about what was happening Friday in the <a href="https://youtu.be/_VO0hAYtbM0">government shut-down</a>, on <em>The Majority Report</em>. <p>Dave Weigel talked to Sammy about the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5bmJi2X4LY">Wisconsin Election Surprise</a>. <p>"<a href="https://thinkprogress.org/consent-decree-rnc-221b4caa8c77/">New federal court order green lights Republican efforts to 'supercharge voter suppression'</a>: <font color=maroon>For the first time in 35 years, the RNC won't be under a consent decree.</font>" This basically means it's okay for them to do things that are illegal. <p>"<a href="http://www.lohud.com/story/opinion/editorials/2018/01/05/cuomo-call-senate-special-election-editorial/1001619001/">Time's running out for Cuomo to call meaningful Senate special election: Editorial</a>: <font color=maroon>Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Jan. 3 State of the State address took about 92 minutes; his delivery at the Capitol was accompanied by a 374-page booklet. And yet, Cuomo whispered nary a word about calling a special election to fill the two Senate and nine Assembly seats now vacant.</font>" One of the weirder things hardly anyone ever seems to notice is that the New York legislature is controlled by Republicans. And it's thanks to Cuomo and "Democrats" like him that we have this situation. It's not a natural consequence of the desires of the citizens of the state of New York. The <a href="https://www.lohud.com/story/news/politics/politics-on-the-hudson/2017/12/04/democratic-led-ny-senate-skeptics-abound/108303840/">details</a> of the current situation are... curious. <p>This is just weird. "<a href="https://theoutline.com/post/2982/newsweek-s-headquarters-just-got-a-visit-from-the-police?zd=5">Newsweek's headquarters just got a visit from the police</a>: <font color=maroon>Cops came to the headquarters of Newsweek and IBT Media at 7 Hanover Square this morning.</font>" There's no clear explanation for why this happened. Cops took pictures of their servers. They seem to have been sent by the DA's office as part of an "investigation" but no one knows what they were investigating. <p>Alleen Brown at <em>The Intercept</em>, "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/01/09/dakota-access-pipeline-leak-energy-transfer-partners/">Five Spills, Six Months In Operation: Dakota Access Track Record Highlights Unavoidable Reality - Pipelines Leak</a>" <p><em>Haaretz</em>, "<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.833556">How a U.S. Quaker Group That Won the Nobel Peace Prize Ended Up on Israel's BDS Blacklist</a>: <font color=maroon>American Friends Service Committee was honored in 1947 for its work helping victims of the Nazis, but 70 years on has been declared an enemy of the Israeli state. Peace activists are baffled by the move, but critics say it is richly deserved.</font>" <p>Luke Barnes at <em>Think Progress</em>, "<a href="https://thinkprogress.org/irs-private-debt-collectors-47da9d18ab06/">IRS paid private debt collectors $20 million to recoup $6.7 million from low-income Americans</a>: <font color=maroon>Math does not appear to be their strong suit.</font>" But that's not an IRS decision, it's a higher-level policy decision about who the IRS chases. It used to be taken for granted that there was more to be gained by going after wealthy tax-evaders, who were usually holding out on lots of money. There are much bigger returns on going after a billionaire than there are on going after a slew of ordinary households that might have held out on less money than the audit costs to pursue. Going after rich people annoys rich people, so the Bush administration reversed this policy. I don't recall hearing anything about Obama reverting to the previous norm, so now it's an ongoing waste of money and time - or at least, it is if you think the IRS is about collecting money to be used for the running of the federal government and its services. But it isn't. A policy of harassing the hoi polloi while letting the wealthy skate on much larger infractions is a <em>values judgment</em>, not a fiscal calculus. It tells you straight up that taxation <em>isn't</em> about paying for the government. <p>I'd never heard of Aflac until now, but David Dayen says it turns out to be <a href="https://tinyletter.com/DavidDayen/letters/duck-tales">one big, nasty pyramid scheme</a>. <p><em>Black Agenda Report</em>, "<a href="https://blackagendareport.com/donkey-hole-dont-expect-democrats-change-much-2018">Donkey In A Hole: Don't Expect Democrats To Change Much in 2018</a> [...] <em></em><font color=maroon>And given the corporate media coverage of Trump and 'the Donalds' low popularity ratings, relegating Trump to a one-term Presidency should be a relatively easy task. However, few signs show that the Democratic Party can complete the task in a period marked by instability and crisis. Polls indicate Trump maintains a slightly higher approval rating than the entire Democratic Party. That's because the Democratic Party spent eight years under Obama waging an assault on workers and poor people in the US, especially its most loyal base of support in Black America. Black American wealth plummeted , and poverty increased exponentially under the first Black President. War, austerity, and police-state politics defined the Obama era.</font>" <p>CMike provides a link to a story from November, "<a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2017/11/08/19-more-colorado-municipalities-vote-for-city-owned-internet-fort-collins-approves-150-million/">19 more Colorado cities and counties vote in favor of city-owned internet, while Fort Collins approves $150 million to move forward</a>: <font color=maroon>The 19 join nearly 100 others that have gained the right to explore whether municipal broadband is feasible. Voters in Vail, Louisville and 17 other Colorado cities and counties Tuesday voted to take internet service into their own hands in a move that could lead to providing citizens an alternative to the entrenched cable internet provider. Fort Collins voters, who voted to do so two years ago, passed a measure to finance exploration of a city-owned broadband utility. According to the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, which has tracked broadband votes for years, the 19 cities and counties join about 100 others in the state that previously opted out of Senate Bill 152. That bill, passed in 2005, restricts local governments from using taxpayer dollars to build their own broadband networks. 'These cities and counties recognize that they cannot count on Comcast and CenturyLink alone to meet local needs, which is why you see overwhelming support even in an off-year election,' Christopher Mitchell, director of the Community Broadband Networks initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, said in a statement. Passage, however, doesn't mean cities and counties will start offering their own broadband internet service. In 2005, cable and internet providers campaigned to stop cities from offering internet service. At the time, Steve Davis, an executive at Qwest, which is now CenturyLink, told The Rocky Mountain News, 'I think it's inappropriate for public tax dollars to be invested in competitive businesses. At minimum, taxpayers should have the opportunity (to vote on the matter).'</font>" <p>"<a href="http://www.aaihs.org/the-capitalized-womb/">The 'Capitalized Womb': A Review of Ned and Constance Sublette's <em>The American Slave Coast</em></a>" <p>I wish I could make everyone watch this 6:29 video on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDL4c8fMODk">The Basics of Modern Money</a>. <p>This is from <em>FiveThirtyEight</em> last January but it's worth paying attention to, because white racists don't usually make much noise (or make much headway when they do) if most people are getting reasonable rewards for their work and seeing a decent future for themselves and their families ahead. They don't piss and moan and wave torches around if black and other funny-colored people are doing well if <em>they</em> are also doing well. But even if you have a reasonably secure situation yourself, you feel economic anxiety when you look around and see a lot of foreclosed houses in your area, a lot of shops that seem to be permanently closed, know a number of people who've been foreclosed on and lost their homes, and your kid - who is better educated than you were - sees only joining the military to fight endless wars as a career option (and many of your friends have lost kids in our military adventures already, or have kids returned to civilian life to languish in their parents' homes with physical injuries and severe emotional problems), that's a whole other thing. Maybe you've even already seen your best friends grieving because their grandchild came back from deployment in a box, and you know that in an earlier time, that kid would have gone to college (maybe even for free) and gotten a good job that didn't put them in harm's way. You don't have to be conscious of even knowing this, just know that this isn't how it used to be, this isn't how it was supposed to be. And you'd be right, because an evil change <em>has</em> come over America. And you can claim all you want that it's the Republicans and their official policies that created this disaster, but when some of the worst excesses were directly caused by Carter, Clinton, and Obama, you might not be crazy to blame the Democrats, whose rhetoric you'd swear means they have something against white men just for being white men and they only want to help poor black women. You don't realize that they <em>don't</em> help poor black women, because what you hear is that that's who they want to help and they for sure don't want to help <em>you</em>. (Meanwhile, you should hear how a lot of black military guys who would never ever vote for a Republican talk about how badly the military was treated under Obama.) "<a href="https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/stop-saying-trumps-win-had-nothing-to-do-with-economics/">Stop Saying Trump's Win Had Nothing To Do With Economics</a>." Oh, and one more thing: Clinton may have won the lower economic strata, but she also won up at the top, too. <p>Barbara O'Brien has also been writing about this, in "<a href="http://www.mahablog.com/2018/01/12/democrats-big-tent-yes-but-with-parameters/">Democrats: Big Tent, Yes, but With Parameters</a> [...] <font color=maroon>I'm arguing that in many parts of the country that voted for Trump, the economic anxiety fuels racism and keeps it as alive as if the past 50 years hadn't happened. Otherwise, a lot of it might have dissipated by now.</font>" <p>"<a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2018/01/15/europe/garbage-collectors-open-library-with-abandoned-books/index.html">Garbage collectors open library with abandoned books</a>: <font color=maroon>A library in Ankara gives new meaning to the notion that books are timeless. Garbage collectors in the Turkish capital have opened a public library comprised entirely of books once destined for the landfills.</font>" <p><center><font color=magenta>* * * * *</font></center><p> <p>Chart: "<a href="https://twitter.com/BretStephensNYT/status/949178042286354432">Life Expectancy vs. Health Expenditure Over Time (1970-2014)</a>" <p>"<a href="http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/fund-reports/2014/jun/mirror-mirror">Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, 2014 Update: How the U.S. Health Care System Compares Internationally</a>" <p>"<a href="http://www.visualcapitalist.com/u-s-spends-public-money-healthcare-sweden-canada/">The U.S. Spends More Public Money on Healthcare Than Sweden or Canada</a>" <p><a href="https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/dashboard/">Health System Tracker</a> <p><a href="http://memes4bernie.com/gallery/albums/big-pharma/content/img-9553/">Top Senate recipients of donations from pharmaceutical manufacturers</a> <p><center><font color=magenta>* * * * *</font></center><p> <p>Paul Street reviews <em>Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama</em>, "<a href="https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/06/02/obama-a-hollow-man-filled-with-ruling-class-ideas/">Obama: a Hollow Man Filled With Ruling Class Ideas</a> [...] <font color=maroon>The irony here is that one can consult Rising Star to determine the basic underlying accuracy of Reed’s acerbic description. My foremost revelation from Rising Star is that Obama was fully formed as a fake-progressive neoliberal-capitalist actor well before he ever received his first big money campaign contribution. He’s headed down the same ideological path as the Clintons even before Bill Clinton walks into the Oval Office. Obama’s years in the corporate-funded foundation world, the great ruling and professional class finishing schools Columbia University Harvard Law, and the great neoliberal University of Chicago’s elite Law School were more than sufficient to mint him as a brilliant if 'vacuous to repressive neoliberal.'</font>". <p>"<a href="http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/252756/on-stage-in-london-the-twilight-zone-shines-in-all-its-jewish-glory">ON STAGE IN LONDON, THE TWILIGHT ZONE SHINES IN ALL ITS JEWISH GLORY</a>" <p>A friend of mine started a blog and he's begun with telling a little story about having stumbled on an interesting little genealogical tidbit, with "<a href="http://jonesylvania.com/2018/01/10/the-death-of-william-van-meter-part-one/">The Death of William Van Meter - Part One</a>" and <a href="http://jonesylvania.com/2018/01/19/the-death-of-william-van-meter-part-two/">Part Two</a>. <p>SOLIDARITY: Yes, it really happened, although it had faded into legend for 20 years. In 1984, a small group of gay activists decided to support the families of striking coal miners and struck up a relationship with a mining community in Wales, much to the surprise of everyone. Many credit that relationship with the ultimate passage of gay rights in the United Kingdom. I urge you to google and find out more, and to see the whole 2014 docudrama about these people, but just the ending is enough to make many people cry: <a href="https://youtu.be/VrrBKTvGQKw"><em>Pride</em></a>. (Dominic West does a lovely job of playing Jonathan Blake, by the way. Blake talks about it all <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/pride-the-movie-jonathan-blake-the-campaigner-played-by-dominic-west-talks-about-hiv-the-miners-10082744.html">here</a>.) For more to the story, <a href="https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/01/pride-film-lgbt-miners-strike/">here's a good interview</a> that provides another poignant moment and a coda to the short life and magnificent project of Mark Ashton. Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-35732516756403152362018-01-06T14:33:00.000+00:002018-01-10T16:33:54.929+00:00Epiphany<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V8hbPpFtPDE/WlDeQD3WviI/AAAAAAAABz0/YqX8fzTp9cwArDwUSQ4t__-hbHIVtjK2ACLcBGAs/s1600/2017%2BHappy%2BNew%2BYear%2Bfrom%2BAvedon_004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V8hbPpFtPDE/WlDeQD3WviI/AAAAAAAABz0/YqX8fzTp9cwArDwUSQ4t__-hbHIVtjK2ACLcBGAs/s320/2017%2BHappy%2BNew%2BYear%2Bfrom%2BAvedon_004.jpg" width="320" height="320" data-original-width="767" data-original-height="767" /></a></div> <p>I seem to have fallen down on posting through December, which means I was mostly a wimp as far as my war against Bill O'Reilly's War on Christmas is concerned. Except that my Second Life avatar put up two different Christmas trees this year. But Christmas isn't officially over yet, so here are the traditional Christmas links: <br>* Mark Evanier's wonderful <a href="http://www.newsfromme.com/pov/col245/">Mel Torm&eacute; story</a>, and here's the man himself in <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaEedtRHklg&feature=youtu.be">duet with Judy Garland</a>. <br>* <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ooc5eJc5SHA">Joshua Held's Christmas card</a>, with a little help from Clyde McPhatter and the Drifters. <br>* Brian Brink's virtuoso performance of "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8zHmwoTtKc">The Carol of the Bells</a>" <br>* "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5M9UTlDb10">Merry Christmas from Chiron Beta Prime</a>." <br>* <a href="http://news.ansible.co.uk/images/scrooge1.gif">Ron Tiner's one-page cartoon version of <em>A Christmas Carol</em></a> <p>For many it is the Epiphany, and for others the final day of Christmas, also known as Twelfthnight. But it's Christmas for the Russian Orthodoxed Christians and for Armenians. My parents would have been in church today, singing "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaOER_ClnH8">Loor Keeshair</a>", a tune you know. <p><center><font color=magenta>* * * * *</font></center><p> <p>Thomas B. Edsall in <em>The New York Times</em>, "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/21/opinion/republican-tax-bill-trump-corker.html?_r=0">You Cannot Be Too Cynical About the Republican Tax Bill</a>." Nice to see Sirota et al. getting credit for the work they've done on this issue, like this scoop, "<a href="http://www.ibtimes.com/political-capital/republican-senators-will-save-millions-special-real-estate-tax-break-2630037">Republican Senators Will Save Millions With Special Real-Estate Tax Break</a>." <p>But Dean Baker says there are some silver linings in this cloud in "<a href="http://cepr.net/blogs/beat-the-press/the-trump-tax-cuts-secret-santa">The Trump Tax Cuts' Secret Santa</a>. <font color=maroon>No one should have any doubt about the main impact of the Republican tax cuts. These tax cuts are about giving more money to the richest people in the country. After four decades of the largest upward redistribution in the history of the world, the Republican tax cuts give even more money to the big winners. In TrumpWorld, that makes sense. Instead of spending money to rebuild our infrastructure, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, provide quality child care or affordable college, we're going to hand more money to Donald Trump and his family and friends. However, even in the cesspool known as the 'Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,' there are some changes for the better. These are worth noting and expanding upon when saner creatures gain power.</font>" I'm sure not going to complain that they doubled the standard deduction. There are also a few other surprises that are such a good idea you wonder how they got there. <p>Matt Bruenig, "<a href="http://mattbruenig.com/2017/12/15/what-actually-happened-in-alabama/">What actually happened in Alabama?</a> [...] <font color=maroon>But if you actually look at the exit polling, it is pretty clear that the real story of Jones's victory was not inordinate black turnout but rather inordinate white support for the Democratic candidate.</font>" Because black turnout and support for the Dem was not much different than in many races where the Dem lost. But whites voted for the Democrat enough to make up for the usual deficit - and it's a big one. "<font color=maroon>The white share of the electorate is virtually unchanged, but white support for the Democrat changes dramatically, rising all the way to 30 percent in the Jones-Moore election. This white swing towards the Democratic candidate is basically solely responsible for the fact that Jones won rather than losing by over 20 points, which is the typical outcome of a statewide Alabama election that features this level of black turnout.</font>" <p>Lead editorial in <em>Haaretz</em>, "<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/editorial/1.832505">Endless Detention</a>: <font color=maroon>Israeli jurists and academics should speak out against the military courts' free hand with administrative detention orders, which allow Palestinians to be held without trial and can be renewed indefinitely. Last week the detention without trial of Palestinian MP Khalida Jarrar was extended by an additional six months. In July, a year after serving 14 months in prison - she had been convicted of incitement and of membership in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - she was rearrested and placed under administrative detention for six months.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>But there is room to ask the law schools, the Israel Bar Association, judges and even historians and sociologists to intervene. They must make themselves heard and remind Israeli society that denying a person's freedom without evidence and without a right to defense is one of the characteristics of dictatorships. Only if the voices of these professionals and social figures are heard will generals and military judges stop signing unlimited detention orders so easily.</font>" <p>"<a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/12/defendants-cleared-of-charges-in-inauguration-day-arrests.html">J20 Defendants Cleared of Charges in Trump Inauguration Arrests</a>: <font color=maroon>Six people arrested during protests on Donald Trump's inauguration day and charged with rioting and destruction of property were acquitted Thursday, a good sign for the more 150 other so-called J20 protesters awaiting trial. The verdict, delivered by a D.C. Superior Court jury, followed a four-week trial that saw prosecutors attempt to pin blame for $100,000 worth of property damage on the six protestors. Though they admitted there's no evidence linking the defendants to the property damage, the Justice Department lawyers argued that they were part of the so-called riot anyway.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/nancy-altman/the-american-people-are-u_b_12689726.html">Americans Support Expanding Social Security But The GOP is Still Trying To Cut It</a>: <font color=maroon>Largely unreported in the negativity of this year's election is how united the American people are over Social Security. New data from Public Policy Polling confirms what multiple other polls have found: Irrespective of age, race, gender, or party affiliation, Americans support expanding, not cutting, Social Security. </font> [...] <font color=maroon> In the real America, grandparents and grandchildren care about each other. American families know that we are stronger together. And the new polling shows that. It reveals that the effort to turn grandparents and grandchildren against each other has failed: 70 percent of 18-29 year olds, 65 percent of 30-45 year olds, 76 percent of 46-65 year olds, and 70 percent of Americans over 65 all support expanding, not cutting, Social Security. The story is very similar when it comes to race: 69 percent of whites, 82 percent of African-Americans, and 79 percent of Latinos are united in support of expansion. Party affiliation, too, makes little difference. The Republican Party has spent decades working to cut and privatize Social Security, but the Party's base disagrees: the majority of Republicans support expanding benefits, as do 87 percent of Democrats and 73 percent of Independents.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.salon.com/2015/02/13/amazon_is_killing_your_mailman_why_its_new_sunday_service_is_a_labor_travesty_partner/">Amazon is killing your mailman: Why its Sunday service is a labor travesty</a>: <font color=maroon>The online retailer's newest service has created an underclass of postal workers. I should know - I'm one of them</font> [...] <font color=maroon>With the USPS being financially burdened by congressionally mandated pre-funding for retiree healthcare packages (paying 80 plus years in advance at 100% compensation - a burden no private company has had to nor could endure), it has looked to find different avenues to help increase its profitability and fight to stay viable in this 'age of digital mail.' To help combat this huge economic disadvantage - along with the decrease in first-class mail volumes - the USPS management has attempted to implement many different approaches to their problem. They've tried ending Saturday delivery, contemplated neighborhood cluster boxes, which would oust door-to-door delivery, and of course, there's the tried and true elimination of positions, which the USPS has been engaged in since the unprecedented 2006 pre-funding mandate was established. Their latest solution is a relatively new business concept called the negotiated service agreement or NSA.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2017/12/newly-declassified-documents-show-western-leaders-promised-gorbachev-nato-not-move-one-inch-closer-russia.html">Newly-Declassified Documents Show Western Leaders Promised Gorbachev that NATO Would Not Move 'One Inch Closer' to Russia</a>." <p>Meanwhile, even <em>The Washington Post</em> admits, "<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/12/28/theres-still-little-evidence-that-russias-2016-social-media-efforts-did-much-of-anything/">There's still little evidence that Russia's 2016 social media efforts did much of anything</a> [...] <font color=maroon>All of that, though, requires setting aside what we actually know about the Russian activity on Facebook and Twitter: It was often modest, heavily dissociated from the campaign itself and minute in the context of election social media efforts.</font>" It was also badly targeted and didn't quite seem to have much of a grasp of what might actually work. For example, who, among Clinton's likely voters, was going to believe, let alone change their vote, over the (laughably false) claim that HRC was "soft" on Iran? Even the Republicans noticed there was something very odd about spending more in Maryland and DC than in any of the swing states Clinton lost. $300 was spent in Pennsylvania? Um, not a lot. And most of this was spent... during the primaries. "<font color=maroon>Facebook's own public numbers hint at how the ads were weighted relative to the campaign. Ten million people saw ads run by the Russian agents - but 5.6 million of those views were <em>after</em> the election.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cancer-drug-lomustine-price-hiked-1400-percent-by-new-owners/">Price of 40-year-old cancer drug hiked 1,400% by new owners</a>: <font color=maroon>Prices for a cancer drug called lomustine have skyrocketed nearly 1,400 percent since 2013, putting a potentially life-saving treatment out of reach for patients suffering from brain tumors and Hodgkin's lymphoma. Though the 40-year-old medication is no longer protected by patents, no generic version is available.</font>" <p>David Dayen in <em>The American Prospect</em>, "<a href="http://prospect.org/article/big-tech-new-predatory-capitalism">Big Tech: The New Predatory Capitalism</a>: <font color=maroon>The tech giants are menacing democracy, privacy, and competition. Can they be housebroken?</font> [...] <font color=maroon>'What has the greatest collection of humanity and IQ and financial capital been brought together to accomplish?' Galloway asked the crowd. 'To save world hunger? To create greater comity of man? I don't think so. ... Their singular mission, simply put, it's to sell another fucking Nissan.'</font> [...] <font color=maroon>After an unconscionable period of naive neglect, in which the public was dazzled by tech wizardry, Americans of all stripes have recognized that allowing Silicon Valley to take this much control was dangerous. Polls show the public still likes tech platforms but doesn't trust them. Conservatives think Big Tech stifles their voices; liberals think Big Tech hobbled our competitive economy; both think they've abused power, and both are right. Politics has grown interested in monopolies, and particularly tech monopolies, for the first time in decades.</font>" <p>When the Clintonites aren't busy attacking Bernie, they are busy hating Jill Stein, and now it looks like she's been roped in. "<a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/emmaloop/the-senates-russia-investigation-is-now-looking-into-jill">The Senate's Russia Investigation Is Now Looking Into Jill Stein</a>: <font color=maroon>The Senate Intelligence Committee has asked Green Party candidate Jill Stein's campaign to turn over documents, which Stein is expected to release publicly in the future. Committee chair Richard Burr said investigators are looking into two general election campaigns in addition to the Trump campaign.</font>" There's a photograph of Stein sitting at the same table with Putin at an RT dinner, thus "proving" that she was colluding with Putin. Stein says she had hoped to talk to him about her agenda - climate change etc. - but never got the chance to talk to him at all. <a href="https://static.theintercept.com/amp/intercepted-podcast-the-woman-democrats-love-to-hate.html">Jeremy Scahill interviewed Stein</a> on the subject. <p>James Cardin in <em>The Nation</em>, "<a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/russiagate-is-devolving-into-an-effort-to-stigmatize-dissent/">Russiagate Is Devolving Into an Effort to Stigmatize Dissent</a>: <font color=maroon>An amicus brief to a lawsuit filed against Roger Stone and the Trump campaign raises troubling questions over the right to political speech.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Much of this has been said before. But where the briefers branch off into new territory is in their attempt to characterize journalism and political speech with which they disagree as acts of subversion on behalf of a foreign power.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>In other words, a Russian 'cut out' (or fifth columnist) can be defined as those 'activists, academics, journalists, [or] web operators' who dissent from the shared ideology of the 14 signatories of the amicus brief.</font>" <p>"<a href="http://www.antievictionmappingproject.net/vacant.html">Vacant Units, San Francisco 2015</a>" - "<font color=maroon>2012 ACS data indicates there are 30,057 vacant homes in San Francisco. A common residents per unit calculation is 2.8 persons, meaning that the city of San Francisco has empty homes capable of housing more than 84,000 more people than it does.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>According to a 2013 comprehensive report on homelessness by the city of San Francisco, one of the wealthiest cities in the richest nation in the world, contains 6,636 homeless adults and 914 homeless children and transition-age youth, totaling 7,550 homeless persons. The Vacant Homes in San Francisco map yields another irony: two of the districts with the densest numbers of homeless persons also contain the most vacant homes. According to the homelessness report, census tract 6, which includes most of the Tenderloin and SOMA neighborhoods, contains over 3,000 homeless persons, as well as the highest density of vacant homes.</font>" One of the more interesting maps I've seen in a while. <p>Dave Johnson at <em>Seeing the Forest</em>, "<a href="http://seeingtheforest.com/postal-workers-and-the-public-want-a-postal-banking-public-option/">Postal Workers And The Public Want A Postal Banking Public Option</a> [...] <font color=maroon>Until 1967, the Postal Service (then called the Post Office) operated postal banking through the United States Postal Savings System. Reviving postal banking would be like offering a 'public option' for financial services. It would let people have accounts they could use to cash checks, get small loans, pay bills and even get prepaid debit cards. These services would enable lower-income Americans to avoid the exploitative 'payday lenders' and check-cashing 'services' that eat up working people's earnings.</font>" <p>Cornel West says, "<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/dec/17/ta-nehisi-coates-neoliberal-black-struggle-cornel-west?CMP=share_btn_tw">Ta-Nehisi Coates is the neoliberal face of the black freedom struggle</a>: <font color=maroon>The disagreement between Coates and me is clear: his view of black America is narrow and dangerously misleading.</font>" He's not wrong, but at <em>The Intercept</em>, Naomi Klein and Opal Tometi say, "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/12/21/cornel-west-ta-nehisi-coates-feud/">Forget Coates vs. West - We All Have a Duty to Confront the Full Reach of U.S. Empire</a>." <p>"<a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/366127-sessions-rescinds-obama-era-letter-to-local-courts-on-fines-and-fees">Sessions rescinds Obama-era letter to local courts on fines and fees for poor defendants</a>: <font color=maroon>Attorney General Jeff Sessions is rescinding an Obama-era letter to local courts advising them to be wary of imposing stiff fees and penalties on poor defendants, The Washington Post reports. The move comes as Sessions revokes more than two dozen Justice Department guidance documents going back to the 1990s on various topics, the Post reports.</font>" <p>The War on People Who Aren't the Establishment continues with NPR (Nice Polite Republicans) attacking Lee Camp personally. Why? Because he's on RT America, so he must be a Russian stooge. <a href="https://leecamp.com/response-to-npr-smear-campaign/">Mr. Camp responds.</a>. <p>A great response to yet another claim that rich people create jobs, over at <em>Stone Kettle Mountain</em>, making <a href="http://www.stonekettle.com/2017/12/lemonade.html">Lemonade</a>: "<font color=maroon>Every time old rich white men bring up the idea of trickle-down economics, or whatever they call this scam nowadays, the one question that never gets asked is this: Why? Why would rich people create jobs? Why? Why would rich people take their billions and create jobs? Because they're what? Feeling generous all of a sudden? Why? Take the Walton family, their wealth is nearly unimaginable. The amount they'll reap from this tax cut is astronomical. But they already can't spend what they have, even if they live another thousand years. And they don't spend their personal fortune on building new Walmarts anyway, that's what investors are for. And if they did, well, there's nothing stopping them from doing so now, without a tax cut, they've got plenty of money. But they don't. Why? They could use their personal fortune to improve the lot of their employees, but they don't. They could use their fortune to give their employees a living wage, healthcare, benefits, overtime. But they don't. Why? Why should they? What's in it for them? What's the incentive? Altruism? Ha ha! Hilarious. Giving rich people more money just gives rich people more money.</font>" The author does not seem to know that the government still has all the money it needs to pay for schools and roads and health care and anything else we need, but on the question of why the rich would create jobs just because we give them more money - well, that's a question that should be asked any time someone suggests that giving them more money would do anything to create jobs. <p>Susan McWilliams in <em>The Nation</em>, "<a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/this-political-theorist-predicted-the-rise-of-trumpism-his-name-was-hunter-s-thompson/">This Political Theorist Predicted the Rise of Trumpism. His Name Was Hunter S. Thompson</a> [...] <font color=maroon>What made that outcome almost certain, Thompson thought, was the obliviousness of Berkeley, California, types who, from the safety of their cocktail parties, imagined that they understood and represented the downtrodden. The Berkeley types, Thompson thought, were not going to realize how presumptuous they had been until the downtrodden broke into one of those cocktail parties and embarked on a campaign of rape, pillage, and slaughter. For Thompson, the Angels weren't important because they heralded a new movement of cultural hedonism, but because they were the advance guard for a new kind of right-wing politics. As Thompson presciently wrote in the Nation piece he later expanded on in Hell's Angels, that kind of politics is 'nearly impossible to deal with' using reason or empathy or awareness-raising or any of the other favorite tools of the left.</font>" <p>Last year, Adolph Reed made "<a href="http://nonsite.org/editorial/the-case-against-reparations">The Case Against Reparations</a>: <font color=maroon>Randall Robinson's argument for pursuit of reparations hinges on this view of the black American population - lucky petit bourgeois people like himself excepted, of course - as defective and in need of moral and psychological repair. The idea resonates with middle class noblesse oblige and a commitment to a racial politics that ensconces a particular guiding role for upper class blacks. Those are, after all, the people who can conduct the finely calibrated analyses that determine what forms and magnitude just compensation should take; they are the people who would stand to administer whatever compromise palliatives are likely to ensue from this activity. But the question of compensation opens a plethora of technical problems. Should payments go to individuals or to some presumably representative corporate entity? If the former, who qualifies as a recipient? Would descendants of people who had been enslaved elsewhere (for instance, Brazil or the Caribbean) be eligible? And what of those no longer legally black people with slave ancestors?</font>" Michael Brooks interviewed Reed about this and other things on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QY1_ljFS9G8&feature=push-lsb&attr_tag=FazRa6t8MQpLx9Me-6"><em>The Michael Brooks Show</em></a>. <p>Sam Seder did another great interview with David Dayen, about the tax bill and other things, on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN1Qd0XfbSE&feature=push-lsb&attr_tag=KQvFAgrMFJ6K59Nu-6"><em>The Majority Report</em></a>. <p>Sammy also did an interesting interview on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URDCQS6SiWU">The Battle for Veterans' Healthcare w/ Suzanne Gordon</a> - illuminating info about America's best health care system - and one that provides data and develops treatments the whole world uses. <p>ProMarkets tweeted out their hits of the year in a thread that promises some interesting reading, <a href="https://twitter.com/ProMarket_org/status/948347126517551105">here</a>. I thought this title sounded particularly promising: "<a href="https://promarket.org/rise-market-power-decline-labors-share/">The Rise of Market Power and the Decline of Labor's Share</a>: <font color=maroon>A new paper argues that the decline of the labor and capital shares, as well as the decline in low-skilled wages and other economic trends, have been aided by a significant increase in markups and market power.</font>" (Also fascinated by Posner's slow move toward the reality. If he could live long enough, he might be full-on lefty by the time he finished his evolution from the far-right.) <p><a href="https://www.racked.com/2017/1/18/14309320/balenciaga-bernie-sanders-menswear-fall-2017">Bernie Sanders, fashion icon</a>, got a gift from his son for Christmas, a parka from a Vermont company. He <a href="https://www.racked.com/2017/1/20/14342456/bernie-sanders-inauguration-parka">wore it in the rain</a> to an event (at which other politicians appeared in coats that cost thousands of dollars), but <em>Newsweek</em> spun as "<a href="http://www.newsweek.com/bernie-sanders-rich-700-jacket-billionaires-768739">Socialist Bernie Sanders Wears a $700 Jacket While Complaining About Rich People</a>" - picked up straight from the right-wing <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/25295/man-people-bernie-sanders-wears-700-coat-swear-new-emily-zanotti"><em>DailyWire</em></a> story. (They appear to have only three pictures of Bernie, I see.) <p>And oh, yeah, <a href="https://apnews.com/eb33e17fcecd4049ae4c2b7d8fd51513/New-year-brings-broad-pot-legalization-to-California">California decriminalized recreational marijuana</a>. <p>RIP: "<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/dec/30/erica-garner-dies-black-lives-matter-eric-garner-daughter?CMP=fb_gu"><b>Erica Garner</b>, Black Lives Matter activist, dies aged 27</a>: <font color=maroon>Daughter of Eric Garner was in hospital for a week after a heart attack.</font>" <p>RIP: "<a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2017/12/28/entertainment/rose-marie-dies/index.html"><b>Rose Marie</b>, actress and showbiz legend, dies at 94</a>." She sang for three presidents (two of whom were dead before I was born, and frankly, I was surprised to learn that Coolidge was still alive in my lifetime), but we all loved Sally Rogers on Dick van Dyke. One day I was watching an old movie and saw her original child star incarnation as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5i1weaWeOm8">Baby Rose Marie</a>. Mark Evanier, of course, has a <a href="https://www.newsfromme.com/2017/12/28/rose-marie-r-p/">nice obituary</a> for her, but he's written a lot about her in the past, too (some of it probably still linked on this page). "<font color=maroon>Like a lot of you, I first became aware of Rose from her appearances on The Dick Van Dyke Show. She was great on that program - and while no one thought this way at the time, that was an important role in the history of on-screen females. She wasn't there to play somebody's wife or somebody's mother or somebody's girl friend. She was a full-fledged working woman with a career and an income and a job that was equivalent to a man's. I mean, you just know Sally Rogers got the same money as Buddy Sorrell. Name me another character on TV before her who got equal pay as a guy - or as many good lines. She scored with every one of them.</font>" <p>RIP: This is embarrassing, but I completely missed somehow that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/sep/07/kate-millett-pioneering-second-wave-feminist-dies-aged-82-sexual-politics"><b>Kate Millett</b></a> died last September at 82, from a heart attack, <p>"<a href="https://www.npr.org/2014/12/19/371647099/norads-santa-tracker-began-with-a-typo-and-a-good-sport">NORAD's Santa Tracker Began With A Typo And A Good Sport</a>" <p>"<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqWwhY_8j0I&feature=youtu.be">Top 17 Earth From Space Images of 2017 in 4K</a>" <p>Every time I go back to show someone <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moNHfeBJ81I">this video</a>, I find <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1VTPhrnPrw">another one</a>. There were really quite a lot of them that I didn't even know about. In some ways it's heartening to see how much creativity they inspired. Wish someone had put them all on TV. Which just proves that "the left" is still good at this, it's just that it's not allowed on TV anymore.Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-42354093388544213902017-12-18T16:54:00.000+00:002017-12-18T16:54:00.242+00:00Somebeody's tuggin' at your heartstrings<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Li3lhH6ZIaA/WjfyaW9TzJI/AAAAAAAABzQ/7gHQisdmpHgWt_coZIi0r3XNSdr_XDLOgCLcBGAs/s1600/xmassnowy.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Li3lhH6ZIaA/WjfyaW9TzJI/AAAAAAAABzQ/7gHQisdmpHgWt_coZIi0r3XNSdr_XDLOgCLcBGAs/s320/xmassnowy.gif" width="320" height="167" data-original-width="500" data-original-height="261" /></a></div> <p>Bill Moyers says <a href="http://billmoyers.com/story/farewell/">Farewell</a>: "<font color=maroon>BillMoyers.com will continue to serve as the archive of the television journalism my colleagues and I have produced over the past 44 years. I hope you find it useful. The site will go into archive mode on Wednesday, Dec. 20.</font>" <p>Stiglitz in the <em>Guardian</em>, "<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/dec/05/globalisation-time-look-at-past-plot-the-future-joseph-stiglitz">Globalisation: time to look at historic mistakes to plot the future</a>: <font color=maroon>Trade deals were hammered out in secret by multinationals at the expense of workers and citizens. Benefits must be shared if the global economy is to work.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>To someone like me, who has watched trade negotiations closely for more than a quarter-century, it is clear that US trade negotiators got most of what they wanted. The problem was with what they wanted. Their agenda was set, behind closed doors, by corporations. It was an agenda written by, and for, large multinational companies, at the expense of workers and ordinary citizens everywhere.</font>" <p><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/pennsylvania-gerrymandering-lawsuits_us_5a26fb91e4b0ee6f9637e7a4">Top Pennsylvania Republicans Are Fighting Like Hell To Keep Gerrymandering Secret</a>: <font color=maroon>Two court cases could reveal how the GOP took over the state's congressional delegation. Two of Pennsylvania's top Republicans are fighting hard to conceal information about how Republicans drew the state's 2011 congressional redistricting plan, now the subject of lawsuits in both state and federal court. At stake is the public's chance to see how Pennsylvania lawmakers in 2011 used technology and detailed voter information to reset the state's electoral map. The voters bringing these cases argue that the districts were deliberately drawn to secure Republicans' domination of the state's congressional delegation and that the process violated the U.S. and Pennsylvania constitutions.</font>" <p>Matthew Cole and Jeremy Scahill in <em>The Intercept</em>, "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/12/04/trump-white-house-weighing-plans-for-private-spies-to-counter-deep-state-enemies/">Trump White House Weighing Plans for Private Spies to Counter 'Deep State' Enemies</a>: <font color=maroon>The Trump administration is considering a set of proposals developed by Blackwater founder Erik Prince and a retired CIA officer - with assistance from Oliver North, a key figure in the Iran-Contra scandal - to provide CIA Director Mike Pompeo and the White House with a global, private spy network that would circumvent official U.S. intelligence agencies, according to several current and former U.S. intelligence officials and others familiar with the proposals. The sources say the plans have been pitched to the White House as a means of countering 'deep state' enemies in the intelligence community seeking to undermine Donald Trump's presidency. The creation of such a program raises the possibility that the effort would be used to create an intelligence apparatus to justify the Trump administration's political agenda. </font>" <p>On <em>The Majority Report</em>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xNnBg7fWWU">Social Reproduction Theory w/ Tithi Bhattacharya</a>. <p>Conor Friedersdorf in <em>The Atlantic</em>, "<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/546983/">A Police Killing Without a Hint of Racism</a>: <font color=maroon>Daniel Shaver begged officers not to shoot him. What role will his death play in the push for law-enforcement reforms?</font>" Nothing seems to be able to stop this train. "<font color=maroon>Even if Black Lives Matter critics were right that police killings in America are not racially suspect, that would not be a sufficient argument against police reforms. It would still remain the case that American police officers kill many more people overall - and many more unarmed and mentally ill people in particular - than do police officers in other democratic countries. Why isn't that enough to warrant serious, systemic reform?</font>" The video hadn't been released at the time the article was written, but if you have the stomach for it, it's <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M62Va6Ft2cw">here</a>. <p>"<a href="https://www.thepoliticalrevolution.net/just-alabama-jail-hundreds-voters-switching-parties-2/">JUST IN: Alabama to Jail Hundreds of Voters for Switching Parties</a>: <font color=maroon>Alabama just slapped its citizens with nasty news concerning voter fraud. The Republican Secretary of State John Merrill has officially threatened to jail up to 674 Alabamans who he believes committed voter fraud by switching parties for the September 26th run-off election. Alabama Governor Kay Ivey (R) signed a law in May 2017 prohibiting the act of 'crossover voting.' Crossover voting occurs when voters switch their minds to vote for a candidate who isn't affiliated with their party. Merrill wants to slap all 674 'crossover voters' with the maximum prison sentence of 5 years and a $15,000 fine.</font>" They couldn't find any voter fraud so they made their own! <p><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2017-election/AL">Details of exit poll results on the vote on Roy Moore v. Doug Jones</a> for the Alabama Senate. <p>"<a href="http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/why-arent-more-democrats-using-anti.html#undefined.ejhh.gbpl.uxfs">Why Aren't More Democrats Using Anti-Monopoly Arguments In Their Congressional Campaigns?</a>" - featuring a great speech by Senator Warren on the dangers of monopoly and concentration, the history of anti-trust success, and how it literally got Borked.. <p>Tess Townsend, "<a href="http://nymag.com/selectall/2017/12/ro-khanna-pro-antitrust-congressman-from-silicon-valley.html">Can Silicon Valley's Pro-Antitrust Congressman Navigate His Monopoly-Friendly District?</a> [...] <font color=maroon>So far, Khanna doesn't seem particularly concerned that his comments will offend his constituents. On the antitrust issue that might be the most pressing to Silicon Valley in particular - the AT&T-Time Warner merger, opposition to which observers like investor Mark Cuban say could be turned on Facebook and Google - Khanna has been outspoken: 'Every American should be concerned that a few major corporations control the flow of news and information,' he tweeted in November. 'The AT&T-Time Warner deal must be rejected.' But he said that blocking it shouldn't cause concern for tech companies. 'You cannot compare telecom companies that control access to the internet with those that provide a platform [or] content,' the Democrat told Select All last month.</font>" <p>Pushback from Zephyr Teachout on Al Franken being pushed out of the Senate, "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/11/opinion/franken-resignation-harassment-democrats.html?_r=0">I'm Not Convinced Franken Should Quit</a>: <font color=maroon>I care passionately about #MeToo. Women are routinely demeaned, dismissed, discouraged and assaulted. Too many women's careers are stymied or ended because of harassment and abuse. In politics, where I have worked much of my adult life, this behavior is rampant. I also believe in zero tolerance. And yet, a lot of women I know - myself included - were left with a sense that something went wrong last week with the effective ouster of Al Franken from the United States Senate. He resigned after a groundswell of his own Democratic colleagues called for him to step down. Zero tolerance should go hand in hand with two other things: due process and proportionality. As citizens, we need a way to make sense of accusations that does not depend only on what we read or see in the news or on social media.</font>" <p>An editor at <em>The Houston Chronicle</em> wrote this remarkable editorial in response to the GOP's tax bill, recommending an alternative plan of his own: "<a href="http://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/outlook/article/Mintz-A-modest-tax-proposal-End-payroll-taxes-12270913.php">Mintz: A modest tax proposal: End payroll taxes, hire IRS goons and bring back the guillotine</a> [...] <font color=maroon>Taxes are even more complicated. There are seven different brackets. Under my plan, we'll cut this down to size and replace the whole thing with just one, single easy bracket. All income over $200,000 will be taxed at 95 percent.</font>" And replace the estate tax with the guillotine. I like it! <p>"<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/dnc-unity-reform-commission-2016-presidential-primary_us_5a2c59fbe4b0a290f05145d2">DNC Unity Commission Agrees On Slate Of Historic Reforms</a>: <font color=maroon>The Democratic Party comes one step closer to healing the wounds of the 2016 primary.</font>" <p>"<a href="http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/prophecies-and-politics-how-us-evangelical-christians-pushed-jerusalem-move-2029225819">Prophecies and politics: How US evangelical Christians pushed for Jerusalem move</a>: <font color=maroon>Religious conservative groups have lobbied for policy relocating US embassy to Jerusalem from biblical standpoint.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>President Donald Trump went against the advice of allies and warnings of foes and announced on Wednesday plans to move the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. The US religious right was a driving force behind the move, which left Washington isolated on the world stage, analysts say.</font>" Yes, that's right, they want to speed the way to the apocalypse and this is a first step. Israeli leadership is becoming even more belligerent and fascist in the wake of Trump's decision. <p>Gaius Publius: "<a href="http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2017/12/deficit-talk-is-trap-will-democrats.html">Deficit Talk Is a Trap. Will Democrats Fall Into It?</a> <font color=maroon>A budget surplus on the government side is a budget deficit on the economy's side. - A fact you'll rarely hear spoken on big-donor-owned media.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>As they did in the 1980s, Republicans are laying a 'deficit trap' for Democrats. As they did before, they're blowing up the budget, then using deficit scares to force Democrats to 'be responsible' about cutting social programs - 'because deficits matter.'</font>" <p>"<a href="https://patrioticmillionaires.org/2017/07/25/there-is-no-debt-to-have-a-ceiling/">There is No Debt to Have a Ceiling</a>: <font color=maroon>The debt ceiling debate looms once again as Congress paints itself into a familiar corner; feigning horror at the big scary number that records all outstanding government bonds while simultaneously expressing the gravest of concern that a default would be unthinkable, precipitating a global economic catastrophe. Default would, in fact, be an unconscionable act of irresponsibility, because financial default is not possible for the U.S. government unless our politicians foolishly choose to default for no reason. Why? The simple answer is that we issue our own sovereign currency and, as such, we can always afford to make any payment that is due in US dollars. We left the gold standard and global fixed exchange rate system a long time ago - it's time we updated our thinking.<br>•We have no debt in other nations' currencies.<br>•We make no promises to convert our currency to other currencies.<br>•We allow our currency to float in exchange.<br>•Our central bank, not financial markets, decides how much interest bond holders will receive.</font> <p>"<a href="http://wecanhavenicethings.com/nicethingsblog/">There Are No Real Republican 'Deficit Hawks.' Here's Why.</a> <font color=maroon>Strategy: Republicans Create Deficits, Stoke Deficit Fear, Then Campaign Against Government Spending. Here's the thing. There are no real Republican 'deficit hawks.' Republicans stoke deficit fear, and then say they are opposed to budget deficits. But they always, always increase deficits. On purpose. There's a reason.</font>" <p>Jonathan Cohn, "<a href="https://medium.com/@JonathanCohn/these-27-democrats-voted-to-side-with-predatory-billionaires-over-low-income-homeowners-1088eba53916">These 27 Democrats Voted to Side with Predatory Billionaires over Low-Income Homeowners</a>: <font color=maroon>While Senate Republicans worked on finalizing their Christmas gift to the 1 percent, House Republicans took their own steps to reward predatory billionaires. The House today took up the deceptively titled Preserving Access to Manufactured Housing Act, which, contrary to its title, does nothing to preserve access to manufactured housing ('mobile homes'). So what does the bill actually do? First, it changes the definition of a 'mortgage originator' so that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule on marketing and documenting consumer financial transactions wouldn't apply to mobile home retailers offering credit to borrowers. And second, it would increase the thresholds for specific rates and fees that trigger Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act (HOEPA) protections. This would have exempted more than half of mobile home loans in 2013, according to Consumer Bureau data. In short, it removes vital protections for low-income homeowners to encourage predatory practices by the rich. And one of the biggest culprits is the Warren Buffett, who, contrary to what some Democratic elites like to say, is not your billionaire friend. He's just as predatory as his peers.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Maxine Waters hammered this point further in a passionate floor speech: 'This bill makes it easier for financial titans like billionaire Warren Buffett to earn even more profits, at the expense of the most vulnerable consumers in this country.'</font>" <p>Lee Fang and Nick Surgey, "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/10/13/koch-brothers-internal-strategy-memo-on-selling-tax-cuts-ignore-the-deficit/">Koch Brothers' Internal Strategy Memo on Selling Tax Cuts: Ignore The Deficit</a>: <font color=maroon>The billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch spent much of the eight years of the Obama presidency stoking fears about the budget deficit. Their political network aired an unending cascade of campaign advertisements against Democratic politicians, sponsored several national bus tours, and paid organizers in communities across the country to mobilize public demonstrations, all focused on the dangers of increasing the deficit. One such ad even warned that government debt would lead to a Chinese takeover of America - which, for many voters, is a concern linked to debt. Another effort, also quietly bankrolled by the Koch network, used Justin Bieber memes to try to reach millennials about too much government borrowing. Now that Republicans control all levers of power in Washington and the Koch brothers are poised to reap a windfall of billions of dollars through tax cuts, they have a new message: Don't worry about the deficit.</font>" <p>David Dayen, "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/11/29/trump-administration-acting-director-cfpb-mick-mulvaney/">Trump'S Acting Directors Are Quietly Dropping 'Acting' From Their Titles</a>: <font color=maroon>THE FIGHT OVER the leadership of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is assumed to be about President Donald Trump's intent to deregulate finance. But it's also part of a larger fight about separation of powers and the expanding authority of the executive, made clear by the Trump administration's use, and abuse, of the law the president relied on to attempt to install Mick Mulvaney as acting director. Trump doesn't just want to undermine consumer financial protection with Mulvaney; he wants to end-run the Senate and install unaccountable loyalists throughout the government by executive fiat. Across the government, acting directors who were installed without Senate approval are quietly dropping the 'acting' title from their name, suggesting they have every intention of overstaying their legal welcome.</font>" <p>"<a href="http://www.epi.org/press/proposed-rule-would-protect-employers-who-steal-workers-hard-earned-tips/">Proposed rule would protect employers who steal workers' hard-earned tips</a>: <font color=maroon>Today the Trump administration took their first major step towards allowing employers to legally take tips earned by the workers they employ. The Department of Labor released a proposed rule rescinding portions of its tip regulations, including current restrictions on 'tip pooling - which would mean that, for example, restaurants would be able to pool the tips servers receive and share them with untipped employees such as cooks and dishwashers. But, crucially, the rule doesn't actually require that employers distribute pooled tips to workers. Under the administration's proposed rule, as long as the tipped workers earn minimum wage, the employer can legally pocket those tips.</font>" <p>"<a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/362934-philadelphia-write-in-candidate-shocked-by-surprise-victory">Philadelphia write-in candidate: I won with one vote</a>." Not "by one vote" - <em>with only one vote</em>. "<font color=maroon>They say that one vote doesn't matter, but I literally wrote in my own name and won an election because I guess no-one else ran/voted for this position.</font>" <p>Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics "<a href="http://iop.harvard.edu/youth-poll/fall-2017-poll">Executive Summary: Survey of Young Americans' Attitudes Toward Politics and Public Service</a>: <font color=maroon>14% of young Americans believe we're generally headed in the right direction</font>." <p>Fallout: MSNBC, in an unsurprising act of cowardice, let Cernovich's smear campaign against Sam Seder win the day after unearthing an old 2009 tweet in which Sam was sarcastic about liberals who defended Roman Polanksi's involvement with underaged girls on the grounds that he was a great filmmaker. "<a href="https://www.thewrap.com/msnbc-will-not-renew-contract-with-contributor-after-roman-polanski-rape-joke/">MSNBC to Cut Ties With Sam Seder After Roman Polanski Rape Joke (Exclusive)</a>: <font color=maroon>MSNBC has decided not to renew its contract with contributor Sam Seder after an old tweet emerged in which Seder joked about Roman Polanski raping his daughter, TheWrap has learned. Seder's contract ends in February and he has no scheduled appearances between now and then, a spokesperson for MSNBC told TheWrap. 'Don't care re Polanski, but I hope if my daughter is ever raped it is by an older truly talented man w/a great sense of mise en scene,' wrote Seder in the now deleted tweet from 2009.</font>" But there was outrage from almost everyone from <em>New York Magazine</em> ("<a href="http://nymag.com/selectall/2017/12/corporations-cant-stop-getting-rolled-by-the-far-right.html">Sam Seder's Firing Proves, Once Again, That Corporations Like MSNBC Can't Stop Getting Rolled by the Far Right</a>"), so <a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/12/07/sam-seder-msnbc-reverses-decision-to-fire-contributor-sam-seder/">MSNBC reversed itself</a> and offered Sammy his job back, which he accepted, appearing on the network again that very night. <p>"<a href="http://thefreethoughtproject.com/kratom-deaths-fda-bllsht/">FOIA Docs Show FDA's Data on Kratom Deaths is Complete Propaganda</a>: <font color=maroon>As the FDA fearmongers over alleged Kratom associated deaths, documents on these deaths reveal that the American people are being lied to.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>But that's not all, as TFTP reported last month, in order to understand why this push for a ban is happening, we can simply look at who is spearheading it: FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb. For those unaware, before he was appointed as the commissioner of the FDA, Gottlieb was a resident fellow at the neoconservative think tank, the American Enterprise Institute. AEI has long pushed for the war in and US occupation of Afghanistan - which, since the US invasion, has become the world's number one source of poppies. AEI's officers and board members are made up of warmongers like Dick Cheney, as well as Big Pharma insiders like Raymond Gilmartin, former CEO of Merck & Co., and mega bankers like Harvey Golub, the retired chairman and CEO of the American Express Company.</font>" <p>One of the ways life could be better is if the DCCC Dems would stop protecting one of the most odious Republicans in Congress. "<a href="http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/can-progressive-former-marine-colonel.html#undefined.uxfs">Can A Progressive Former Marine Colonel Dislodge Republican Crook Darrell Issa?</a> <font color=maroon>The slimiest of California's "Democratic" political consultants, slate vendor and ping-pong player Parke Skelton, is being paid a great deal of money to undermine Doug Applegate, in effect, guaranteeing that Darrell Issa retains his seat. I don't know exactly who's paying him but first, let's look at a little background. Issa, a former car thief and the richest member of Congress, was first elected in 2000.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>The DCCC had never been remotely interested in challenging Issa and has studiously avoided the district. In 2014 the candidate was Dave Peiser and Issa creamed him 98,161 (60.2%) to 64,981 (39.8%) a race that saw Issa spending $1,749,467 to Peiser's $85,321. The DCCC spent zero, as usual. But last year a remarkable candidate jumped in against Issa, former Marine Colonel Doug Applegate. The DCCC ignored, ignored, ignored... until Applegate started raising some real money and making some significant headway in the polls. The DCCC kept waiting and watching and making nice noises about Applegate.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Applegate and his grassroots army of supporters decided early to finish what they had started and defeat Issa in 2018. However several multimillionaires have other ideas, thinking it looked so easy. One Pelosi crony who never lifted a finger to defeat Issa, a transplanted failed politician and fixer from Virginia, Ira Lechner, persuaded a friend of his, Mike Levin, to run. Members of Skeltons staff say it is Lechner who has been paying Skelton to undermine Applegate, primarily by having Levin run around with Issa's discredited opposition smears as though they were new.</font>" <p>"<a href="http://www.ocweekly.com/news/has-orange-countys-crime-lab-fabricated-scientific-analysis-to-help-prosecutors-win-murder-cases-8638149">Orange County's Informant Scandal Yields Evidence of Forensic Science Deception in Murder Trials</a> [...] <font color=maroon>'Should it really take an informant scandal to find out that the key forensic expert in two murder cases switched her opinion?' Sanders asked. 'It's been almost 10 years since Hong did this, so obviously, she was content to let these defendants die in prison without ever revealing what she had done. It's beyond sick. [In] how many other cases has she adjusted her opinion so it could work for the prosecution?'</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/when-buying-prescription-drugs-some-pay-more-with-insurance-than-without-it#137618">When Buying Prescription Drugs, Some Pay More With Insurance Than Without It</a>: <font color=maroon>As insurers ask consumers to pay a greater share of their drug costs, it may be cheaper to pay cash than use your insurance card. One expert estimates that consumers could be overpaying for as many as 1 in 10 prescriptions.</font>" <p>"<a href="http://peoplespolicyproject.org/2017/12/07/destruction-of-black-wealth-during-the-obama-presidency/">Destruction Of Black Wealth During The Obama Presidency</a>: <font color=maroon>The People's Policy Project is proud to release its first formal paper. Co-authored by Ryan Cooper and Matt Bruenig and designed by Jon White, it uses data from the Survey of Consumer Finances to track the evolution of African-American wealth during the Obama presidency, and how that wealth was affected by housing policy choices made by the administration. The paper finds that while President Obama had wide discretion and appropriated funds to relieve homeowners caught in the economic crisis, the policy design his administration chose for his housing program was a disaster. Instead of helping homeowners, at every turn the administration was obsessed with protecting the financial system - and so homeowners were left to drown.</font>" <br>* Bruenig and Cooper, "<a href="https://jacobinmag.com/2017/12/obama-foreclosure-crisis-wealth-inequality">How Obama Destroyed Black Wealth</a>: <font color=maroon>The nation's first African-American president was a disaster for black wealth.</font>" <br>* <a href="https://www.blubrry.com/thedig/29571261/the-destruction-of-black-wealth-with-ryan-cooper/">Ryan Cooper discusses the paper on <em>The Dig</em>.</a> <p>"<a href="https://www.thebeaverton.com/2017/12/palestinians-recognize-texas-part-mexico/">Palestinians recognize Texas as part of Mexico</a>: <font color=maroon>JERUSALEM - In response to US President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, the Palestinian National Authority has announced that it will recognize Texas as a state of Mexico since it was violently annexed by the United States in the 1840s.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/bernie-sanders-hits-trail-again-time-fight-gop-tax-bill-n824311">Bernie Sanders hits the trail again, this time to fight GOP tax bill</a> <p>"<a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/362098-bernie-sanders-nominated-for-a-grammy">Bernie Sanders nominated for a Grammy</a>: <font color=maroon>Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) could be adding Grammy winner to his resumé - the 2016 White House hopeful just garnered his first Grammy nomination. The former presidential candidate and actor Mark Ruffalo were nominated Tuesday in the spoken word category for the audiobook of <em>Our Revolution: A Future to Believe In</em>, Sanders's 2016 tome.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.scotsman.com/regions/glasgow-strathclyde/annie-lennox-first-female-chancellor-of-glasgow-caledonian-1-4621595">Annie Lennox first female chancellor of Glasgow Caledonian</a>: <font color=maroon>Singer-songwriter and social activist Annie Lennox is to become the first ever female Chancellor of Glasgow Caledonian University. Lennox will succeed anti-poverty and Nobel Peace Prize winner Professor Muhammad Yunus in the position on Friday. The role of Chancellor involves formal and ceremonial duties, conferring degrees on students and supporting and promoting the University's ambitions and vision. The university said Lennox, who has been honoured for her humanitarian work, 'embodies the mission and values of Glasgow Caledonian University'.The former Eurythmics singer said she is looking forward to the role.</font>" <p>Karen Bernal, Pia Gallegos, Sam McCann, and Norman Solomon, "<a href="https://democraticautopsy.org/wp-content/uploads/Autopsy-The-Democratic-Party-In-Crisis.pdf">Autopsy: The Democratic Party in Crisis</a>" <p>"<a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/paulfarrell/australia-seeks-new-gag-laws-that-could-see-journalists-and?utm_term=.ytAYnxeRV#.fj94A93J0">Australia Seeks New Gag Laws That Could See Journalists And Whistleblowers Jailed for 20 Years</a>: <font color=maroon>Organisations such as WikiLeaks and disclosures from whistleblowers like Edward Snowden appear to be the target.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/12/09/the-u-s-media-yesterday-suffered-its-most-humiliating-debacle-in-ages-now-refuses-all-transparency-over-what-happened/">The U.S. Media Yesterday Suffered its Most Humiliating Debacle in Ages: Now Refuses All Transparency Over What Happened</a>." One reason I don't even bother to report on the Russia story is that not a lot that shows up in the news turns out to be true. This week everyone from CNN to Josh Marshall fell for another fake bombshell. <p>Oops! "<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/cambridge-news-headline-fail_us_5a290aa5e4b0fa7986122efb">Newspaper's Botched Front Page Goes Down In Headline History</a>" <p>RIP: "<a href="http://temple-news.com/news/former-religion-professor-activist-john-raines-dies-at-84/">Former religion professor, activist <b>John Raines</b> dies at 84</a>: <font color=maroon>The professor emeritus served as a religion professor for nearly 50 years and was most known for breaking into an FBI field office in 1971.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Raines and other political activists - including his wife Bonnie Raines - broke into an FBI field office in Media, Pennsylvania on March 8, 1971. The group, which named itself the Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI, stole documents that would expose the abuse within J. Edgar Hoover's FBI administration, and John Raines drove the getaway car, The Temple News reported in 2014. The stolen documents included information about COINTELPRO, the FBI's domestic surveillance operation to spy on prominent political organizers and sabotage any 'anti-government' movements, The Temple News reported in 2014.</font>" <p>RIP: "<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/dec/06/johnny-hallyday-french-rock-star-dies-aged-74-lung-cancer">Johnny Hallyday, the 'French Elvis', dies at 74</a> <p>Umair Haque, "<a href="https://eand.co/econocide-a6ab1c808874">The Life and Death of an Economy</a>: <font color=maroon>How Economies Commit Suicide, Starring America and Britain as Romeo and Juliet</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Today, the UK - we'll get to the US, the world, and the future, but let's begin here - released some genuinely stunning economic 'numbers.' It forecast the economy basically never to grow again, and for incomes not to rise to 2008 levels until 2028. But of course the contradiction is that if the economy will never grow again, then incomes are hardly likely to rise, so we are seeing the death of a modern economy. But it isn't the first, it is the second: the first death was the USA, which is now something like a post-economic country, nominally rich, but plagued by things like mass school shooting and medical bankruptcies, which don't even happen really in Delhi or Bangkok.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/29/magazine/cornel-west-doesnt-want-to-be-a-neoliberal-darling.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=0">Cornel West Doesn't Want to Be a Neoliberal Darling</a>: <font color=maroon><b>After nearly a year of the Trump presidency, do you regret your criticisms of Barack Obama?</b> Oh, no. I told the truth. When I said drone strikes are crimes against humanity, when I said Obama bailed out Wall Street rather than Main Street - I shall forever support that. I was just speaking to the reality that people are hurting, and we have to do the same thing under Trump as we did under Obama.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/robert-reich-how-clinton-and-obama-failed-defend-middle-class">Robert Reich: How Clinton and Obama Failed to Defend the Middle Class</a>: <font color=maroon>Reich told IBT that the Democratic Party 'is just a big fundraising machine' and its failure to fix the economy helped Donald Trump win the White House.</font>" <p>Kevin Carty, Leah Douglas, Lina Khan, and Matt Stoller in <em>New York Magazine</em>, "<a href="http://nymag.com/selectall/2017/12/open-markets-institute-antitrust-for-silicon-valley.html">6 Ideas to Rein in Silicon Valley, Open Up the Internet, and Make Tech Work for Everyone</a>:<br>- 1. Stop Facebook From Spying on Its Competitors <br>- 2. Jail Bosses Who Use Contracts to Lock Down Workers <br>- 3. Stop Amazon From Selling Books - or Anything Else - Below Cost <br>- 4. Stop Mastercard From Robbing Main Street <br>- 5. Stop Amazon From Selling Groceries <br>- 6. Stop Google From Steering You to Its Own Apps <p>Erik Erikson was on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/EWErickson/status/937104341894352896">babbling</a> some phony biblical rationalization of the rich getting to keep all the money. Someone posted a link to "<a href="https://sojo.net/articles/caring-poor-governments-biblical-role">Caring for the Poor is Government's Biblical Role</a>" in response. <p>The NYT did a feature on <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/13/arts/design/richard-avedon-nothing-personal-pace-macgill.html?_r=1">Richard Avedon's photos from the civil rights era</a>. <p>Atrios linked to a song called "<a href="http://thekey.xpn.org/2017/11/27/darlingside/">Eschaton</a>." His readers disagreed on its quality. I kinda liked it. <p>I don't know if <a href="https://www.firertc.com/">FireRTC</a> works over here, but across the pond it gives you free phone calls "to any US, Puerto Rican, or Canadian cell phone or land line!" I'd like to use it, since it doesn't require the person you're calling to be using the same service, and it also sends an identifier to your recipient instead of "unknown". The call recorder is part of it, rather than an add-on, as well. It looks like I may be able to use it to call other FireRTC users, though. Doesn't say anything about <em>from</em>. <p>"<a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/smothers-brothers-comedy-hour-oral-history-1060153"><em>The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour</em> at 50: The Rise and Fall of a Groundbreaking Variety Show</a>" <p>It's been 20 years. "<a href="http://ultimateclassicrock.com/frank-zappa-death/">The Day Frank Zappa Died</a>" <p>This is cute: "<a href="https://twitter.com/m_tisserand/status/936360381529886720">Muslim attacks four British youth</a>." <p>"<a href="https://www.scifidesign.com/2017/06/19/comic-book-covers-recreated-using-balloons/">Comic Book Covers Recreated Using Balloons</a>" <p>Here's a little tune I found on YouTube: "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIX5zcitEaY">Fire Is Ours</a>"Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-63738290410599637672017-11-27T02:53:00.002+00:002017-11-29T04:33:56.296+00:00I'm near the end and I just ain't got the time<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Lj2YXbBEmIM/Wht2yNINabI/AAAAAAAAByo/aYBn6oVnAQwVGxAiSX3LJxcumPsAp5izgCLcBGAs/s1600/BernieSignal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Lj2YXbBEmIM/Wht2yNINabI/AAAAAAAAByo/aYBn6oVnAQwVGxAiSX3LJxcumPsAp5izgCLcBGAs/s320/BernieSignal.jpg" width="320" height="182" data-original-width="960" data-original-height="546" /></a></div> <p>It may surprise you to know that the only thing I have to say right now about all the sexual harassment scandals is that <b>FOR GOD'S SAKE CONGRESS IS DESTROYING OUR ECONOMIC SYSTEM, OUR JUDICIAL SYSTEM, AND THE INTERNET, AND WTF ARE YOU PEOPLE PLAYING AT?!?!?!?!</b>, but here's that old <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shkJfRpktGc"><em>Saturday Night Live</em> Anita Hill hearings clip</a>, which never really seemed that funny to me, but I'd already heard Lenny Bruce talking about how the prosecutors and judges at his obscenity trial seemed to be going out of their way to keep repeating the words he was being prosecuted for saying.. No, wait, I think I pretty much agree with <a href="http://www.eschatonblog.com/2017/11/why-not-him.html">Atrios</a>. The world is full of people who make annoying jokes. In fact, the world is full of people who make annoying jokes you've had to put up with on a weekly basis as if they are the first person you've ever heard that joke from. They make these jokes if you are tall or short, skinny of fat, voluptuous or flat, and every damn time they think it's a big chortle. But resigning just because the opposition party wants you out of the way (because you are effective!) misses the whole point of that "democracy" thing, and god knows we've got precious little of that left. <p>Interestingly, even <em>Forbes</em> is worried. "<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/stancollender/2017/11/19/gop-tax-bill-is-the-end-of-all-economic-sanity-in-washington/#4b75faa577ef">GOP Tax Bill Is The End Of All Economic Sanity In Washington</a>: <font color=maroon>If it's enacted, the GOP tax cut now working its way through Congress will be the start of a decades-long economic policy disaster unlike any other that has occurred in American history.</font>" They're right that the bill is insane, but they really don't seem to be worried about the right things. Everyone who points out that the bill will enlarge the deficit is right, of course, but the deficit isn't what matters. What matters is an even greater transfer of wealth from the American people to the top 0.001% and their ability to accumulate it endlessly. <p>"<a href="http://www.ibtimes.co.in/detained-saudi-arabia-princes-are-being-tortured-by-american-mercenaries-uk-paper-claims-750561">Detained Saudi Arabia princes are being tortured by American mercenaries, UK paper claims</a>: <font color=maroon>In a recent crackdown ordered by Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, some of the country's most powerful figures were arrested this month. The Saudi elite -- princes and billionaire businessmen -- recently arrested in a power grab are reportedly being tortured and thrashed by American private security contractors, according to a report by Daily Mail.</font>" You can find the <em>Daily Mail</em>'s original story <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5108651/American-mercenaries-torturing-Saudi-princes.html">here</a> if you want to, but it's the <em>Daily Mail</em>.. <p>Eric Schneiderman, "<a href="https://medium.com/@AGSchneiderman/an-open-letter-to-the-fcc-b867a763850a">An Open Letter to the FCC</a> [...] <font color=maroon>Specifically, for six months my office has been investigating who perpetrated a massive scheme to corrupt the FCC's notice and comment process through the misuse of enormous numbers of real New Yorkers' and other Americans' identities. Such conduct likely violates state law - yet the FCC has refused multiple requests for crucial evidence in its sole possession that is vital to permit that law enforcement investigation to proceed.</font>" Hm, I wonder who could have fabricated those comments, because there just aren't that many people who favor repeal of net neutrality. <br>* WaPo, "<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/11/22/official-says-hes-been-stymied-by-the-fcc-in-investigation-of-fake-net-neutrality-foes/">Investigation of fake net neutrality foes has been stymied by the FCC, New York attorney general says</a>." <p>"<a href="https://downwithtyranny.blogspot.co.uk/2017/11/verizon-and-death-of-internet.html">Verizon and the Death of the Internet</a>: <font color=maroon>There are two stories here, one about net neutrality - which Trump's FCC is about to terminate - and one about a corruption of the process by which the FCC arrives that decision.</font>" <p>Michael Hiltzik, "<a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-chained-cpi-tax-bill-20171121-story.html">The chained CPI: Another secret tax hike for the middle class slipped into the GOP tax bills</a>." Yes, it's back. <p>"<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/23/opinion/conservatives-weaponize-federal-courts.html">A Conservative Plan to Weaponize the Federal Courts</a>: <font color=maroon>Even though there's been nothing subtle about the current push to fill dozens of judicial vacancies kept open by the Republican-controlled Senate during the final years of the Obama administration, a document now making the rounds inside the Beltway is head-snapping. It is a proposal by a leading conservative constitutional scholar to double or even triple the number of authorized judgeships on the federal Courts of Appeals, now fixed by law at 179. Why so many, and why now? The author, Steven G. Calabresi, a law professor at Northwestern University, a founder and the current board chairman of the conservative Federalist Society, declares his goal boldly: 'undoing the judicial legacy of President Barack Obama.'</font>" <p>This article in <em>The Atlantic</em> looks at "<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/11/the-very-bad-arguments-for-killing-the-estate-tax/545633/">The Very Bad Arguments for Killing the Estate Tax</a>" and then takes a side trip into silly arguments for ending it before returning to the case against ending it. But it doesn't say that billionaires need to be taxed out of existence as quickly as possible, not allowed to build dynasties that control the government. <p>Jordan Weissmann at <em>Slate</em>, "<a href="https://slate.com/business/2017/11/the-republican-plan-to-kill-the-estate-tax-is-even-grosser-than-you-think.html">The Most Egregious Gift to the Wealthy In the Republican Tax Plan</a>." But this <em>is</em> pretty egregious: "<font color=maroon>Killing the estate tax is an egregious move on its own. There is little to no economic rationale for it - some economists have argued the tax discourages savings by the wealthy on the margins and could hurt investment, but that's not really much of a public policy concern when the capital markets are flooded with money. Meanwhile, nixing the tax will allow wealth to concentrate in the hands of the richest families while discouraging charitable bequests. It's a win for the top 0.1 percent, at the expense of philanthropy and the federal budget. But when you drill down to the specifics of the GOP's plan, it looks even worse. While they do away with the estate tax, Republicans would leave in place the rules that currently spare heirs from paying capital gains taxes when they sell off the assets they inherit. Essentially, they're turning death into a supercharged tax avoidance strategy for country's most loaded families.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.rawstory.com/2017/11/st-louis-police-shut-down-entire-mall-to-violently-arrest-black-lawmaker-for-protesting-racial-injustice/">St. Louis police shut down entire mall to violently arrest black lawmaker for protesting racial injustice</a>: <font color=maroon>Police in St. Louis shut down a large shopping mall on 'Black Friday' to arrest activists protesting police violence. The arrests included a state Rep. Bruce Franks Jr. (D), a black lawmaker who could be heard screaming in pain in video that shows multiple officers on top of the handcuffed lawmaker, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/18/business/student-loans-licenses.html?_r=0">When Unpaid Student Loan Bills Mean You Can No Longer Work</a>: <font color=maroon>Twenty states suspend people's professional or driver's licenses if they fall behind on loan payments, according to records obtained by The New York Times.</font>" <p>David Dayen at <em>The Intercept</em>, "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/11/14/bank-deregulation-bipartisan-senate-equifax/">A Week After Virginia Election Sweep, Democrats Join Republicans for More Bank Deregulation</a> [...] <font color=maroon>The measure would roll back several key financial regulations, including sections of the Dodd-Frank Act. It does so under the cover of offering consumer protections and coming to the aid of community banks - though the financial institutions that benefit have not-so-obscure names, like American Express, SunTrust, and BB&T. Four Banking Committee Democrats - Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Mark Warner, D-Va. - negotiated the bill with committee chair Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, after ranking Democrat Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, broke off talks on a compromise bill with Crapo just last month. Warner's Virginia colleague Tim Kaine, last year's vice presidential nominee, signed on as an original co-sponsor of the bill, along with Joe Manchin D-W.Va., Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., Gary Peters D-Mich., and Angus King, I-Maine, who caucuses with Democrats. The Democratic support would give the legislation enough support to break a filibuster, if all Republicans signed on.</font>" <p>"<a href="http://www.gregpalast.com/pig-burst-keystone-pipeline/">The Pig That Burst The Keystone Pipeline</a>: <font color=maroon>Yesterday, the Keystone pipeline cracked and dumped 210,000 gallons of oil onto the South Dakota prairie. Here's the reason the pipeline burst: the PIG didn't squeal. The PIG, the Pipeline Inspection Gauge, is sent through the Keystone to check for evidence of any leak, failure, or corrosion that will cause it to burst. But the PIG didn't squeal a warning. Why not? Because, as disclosed in my investigation for Britain's investigative TV series Dispatches in 2010, the PIG has been silenced, its software jacked and hacked by a company that provides PIGS. The software is deliberately set to reduce the warning signals and thereby cut costs of replacement and repair by billions of dollars on the Keystone and other pipes.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/11/16/the-fcc-just-repealed-decades-old-rules-blocking-broadcast-media-mergers/">The FCC just repealed a 42-year-old rule blocking broadcast media mergers</a>. And you can be sure this is about letting Sinclair take over the spectrum. <p>NYT: "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/21/us/politics/dana-rohrabacher-putin-trump-kremlin-under-fire.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=0">He's a Member of Congress. The Kremlin Likes Him So Much It Gave Him a Code Name</a>." This may be one of my favorite headlines. Remember Dana Rohrabacher posing with the Taliban? <p>Jeff Spross in <em>The Week</em>, "<a href="http://theweek.com/articles/738888/killing-atttime-warner-deal-radical-good-lets">Killing the AT&amp;T-Time Warner deal would be radical. Good. Let's do it</a>. <font color=maroon>On Monday, the U.S. Justice Department officially filed a lawsuit to block AT&amp;T's $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner. The two sides may still eventually settle out of court. But it sounds like they're headed for trial. AT&amp;T general counsel David McAtee declared the lawsuit a "radical and inexplicable departure from decades of antitrust precedent." He's right. But in a just world, the DOJ should prevail. This merger should be killed.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://rewire.news/article/2017/11/21/will-wendys-help-protect-farmworkers-sexual-violence/">Will Wendy's Help Protect Farmworkers From Sexual Violence?</a> <font color=maroon>Wendy's has chosen to source tomatoes and other produce from Mexico, including from firms with a known history of human rights violations.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/20/us/politics/trump-justice-department-prison-sentences.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0">Serving Extra Years in Prison, and the Courthouse Doors Are Closed</a>: <font color=maroon>WASHINGTON - It is one thing for a new administration to switch sides in a legal dispute. That is merely unusual. It is another to urge the Supreme Court to deny review in a case that would test whether the government's new position is correct. In a Supreme Court brief filed last month, the Justice Department tried to have it both ways. It told the justices that it no longer believed that some federal prisoners serving longer prison terms than the law allowed were entitled to challenge their sentences in court.</font>" It's hard to believe this is even a question. I mean, yes, even now, it's hard to believe. <p>David Dayen in <em>The Nation</em>, "<a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/the-trump-administration-had-one-real-wall-street-cop-and-he-just-quit/">The Trump Administration Had 1 Real Wall Street Cop - and He Just Quit</a>: <font color=maroon>Richard Cordray's departure is a loss for consumers, but may be Ohio's gain.</font>" <p>The Talking Dog has done another interview with another frustrated individual who has tried to ameliorate the disaster of Guantanamo, <a href="http://www.thetalkingdog.com/archives2/001915.html">Mark Fallon</a>: "<font color=maroon>In his more than thirty years as an NCIS special agent and counterintelligence officer, Mark Fallon has investigated some of the most significant terrorist operations in US history, including the first bombing of the World Trade Center and the 2000 attack on the USS Cole. Soon after the September 11th attacks, Fallon was named Deputy Commander of the newly formed Criminal Investigation Task Force (CITF), created to probe the al-Qaeda terrorist network and bring suspected terrorists to trial. Mr. Fallon is the author of Unjustifiable Means: The Inside Story of How the CIA, Pentagon, and US Government Conspired to Torture, where he describes his experience in his role with CITF, and makes a number of other observations from his unique perspective, including the evolution of "enhanced interrogation techniques" (torture) into the American interrogation program and his and others' heroic efforts of many to thwart it that were ultimately not successful. On November 10, 2017, I had the privilege of interviewing Mr. Fallon by e-mail exchange.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.alternet.org/books/america-regressing-developing-nation-most-people">America Is Regressing into a Developing Nation for Most People</a>: <font color=maroon>A new book reveals that the U.S. is becoming two distinct countries, with separate economies, politics and opportunities.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>The two sectors, notes Temin, have entirely distinct financial systems, residential situations and educational opportunities. Quite different things happen when they get sick or when they interact with the law. They move independently of each other. Only one path exists by which the citizens of the low-wage country can enter the affluent one, and that path is fraught with obstacles. Most have no way out.</font>" <p>'<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/1.822782">Hasidic Brooklyn Neighborhood Has Lead Poisoning Rates Triple That of Flint, Michigan</a>: <font color=maroon>Since last year, Reuters has obtained neighborhood-level blood lead testing results for 34 states and the District of Columbia. This data allows the public its first hyper-local look at communities where children tested positive for lead exposure in recent years. The newly identified communities with high rates of elevated childhood lead levels include a historic district in Savannah, Georgia, areas in Rutland, Vermont, near the popular skiing mountain Killington, and a largely Hasidic Jewish area in Brooklyn. The areas where the most children tested high are in Brooklyn, including neighborhoods with historic brownstones and surging real estate values, where construction and renovation can unleash the toxin. The worst spot - with recent rates nearly triple Flint's - was in a Hasidic Jewish area with the city's highest concentration of small children.</font>" <p><a href="https://twitter.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/930649401428791297">Max Blumenthal</a> asks an interesting question about the push by <em>The Washington Post</em> and others to treat <em>RT America</em> as a foreign agent when APAIC isn't. <p>"<a href="https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2017/11/18/rent-controls-promote-stability-mendona-vieira.html">Rent controls promote stability</a>: <font color=maroon>Housing security leads to healthier neighbourhoods and tenants.</font>" <p>Matt Stoller in 2012 on <a href="https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/05/its-not-about-reelection-bill-clintons-80-million-payday.html">Why Politicians Don't Care That Much About Reelection</a>: <font color=maroon>Most activists and political operatives are under a delusion about American politics, which goes as follows. Politicians will do *anything* to get reelected, and they will pander, beg, borrow, lie, cheat and steal, just to stay in office. It's all about their job. This is 100% wrong. The dirty secret of American politics is that, for most politicians, getting elected is just not that important. What matters is post-election employment. It's all about staying in the elite political class, which means being respected in a dense network of corporate-funded think tanks, high-powered law firms, banks, defense contractors, prestigious universities, and corporations. If you run a campaign based on populist themes, that's a threat to your post-election employment prospects. This is why rising Democratic star and Newark Mayor Corey Booker reacted so strongly against criticism of private equity - he's looking out for a potential client after his political career is over, or perhaps, during interludes between offices. Running as a vague populist is manageable, as long as you're lying to voters. If you actually go after powerful interests while in office, then you better win, because if you don't, you'll have basically nowhere to go. And if you lose, but you were a team player, then you'll have plenty of money and opportunity. The most lucrative scenario is to win and be a team player, which is what Bill and Hillary Clinton did. The Clinton's are the best at the political game - it's not a coincidence that deregulation accelerated in the late 1990s, as Clinton and his whole team began thinking about their post-Presidential prospects.</font>" <p>RIP: "<a href="http://variety.com/2017/music/people-news/david-cassidy-dead-dies-partridge-family-1202618273/"><b>David Cassidy</b>, 'Partridge Family' Star, Dies at 67</a>." I was strangely saddened by this, although he'd been ill and was also suffering from dementia. He'd had problems with drinking and his liver got him. But looking at his picture, I remembered how pretty he was. how he could sometimes blast exuberant life out of the TV screen. He had come from a showbiz family (Jack Cassidy and Shirley Jones) and made his name in a show that was based on another showbiz family (The Cowsills), but you forgot all that when you saw him bouncing around on screen. <p>RIP: "<a href="http://variety.com/2017/music/news/ac-dc-guitarist-malcolm-young-dead-dies-at-64-1202618215/">AC/DC Guitarist Malcolm Young Dies at 64</a>," so soon after the death of his brother George, leaving Angus as the surviving Young brother involved with the band. <p>Judging by the messes we make when we cut cakes around here, maybe we could use <a href="https://boingboing.net/2017/11/21/watch-this-rocket-powered-bir.html">one of these</a>. <p>The Ealing Club, "<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-41918726">The club where The Who first rocked</a>" <p>Blind Faith, "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-a2o5ykaPwc">Can't Find My Way Home</a>" (electric)Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-39742581314618574662017-11-13T23:59:00.001+00:002017-11-14T02:03:04.314+00:00I'd give you everything I got for a little peace of mind<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2Sw25AudmPc/WgowQzhjsRI/AAAAAAAAByU/6rZz24q8AMwemsrAlt399E1BJJjCx_FkACLcBGAs/s1600/Autumnjapan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2Sw25AudmPc/WgowQzhjsRI/AAAAAAAAByU/6rZz24q8AMwemsrAlt399E1BJJjCx_FkACLcBGAs/s320/Autumnjapan.jpg" width="320" height="240" data-original-width="599" data-original-height="450" /></a></div> <p>At the polls, it was a good night for Dems. <p>"<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/democrats-poised-to-make-significant-gains-in-virginia-legislature/2017/11/07/9c2f4d24-c401-11e7-aae0-cb18a8c29c65_story.html?utm_term=.00d77e251f45">Democrats make significant gains in Virginia legislature; control of House in play</a>: <font color=maroon>The Democratic wave in Virginia on Tuesday wiped out the Republican majority in the state House of Delegates, throwing control of the chamber in play for the first time since 2000 and putting Republicans in blue-tinged districts across the country on alert for next year's elections. Democrats snared at least 15 seats in an upset that stunned members of both parties and arrived with national implications.</font>" <p>Manassas: "<a href="http://reverepress.com/news/democratic-socialists-just-won-huge-victory-virginia/">Democratic Socialists Just Won a Huge Victory in Virginia</a>: <font color=maroon>Lee Carter's (D) election victory was a shocking upset for experts, who predicted that Republican incumbent Jackson Miller would likely win. Carter ran unapologetically on pursuing a single payer healthcare system for Virginia and limiting corporate influence in politics, echoing policy positions taken by Sen. Bernie Sanders in last year's Democratic primary. Carter, an IT specialist and Marine veteran, now represents Virginia's 50th District, which includes the city of Manassas and part of Prince William County.</font>" Miller was the VA House Majority Whip, so that's a big shot Republican he ousted. <br>* "<a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/145727/socialist-beat-one-virginias-powerful-republicans">How a Socialist Beat One of Virginia's Most Powerful Republicans</a>: <font color=maroon>Is Lee Carter's shocking victory a sign of things to come across America?</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/democratic-socialism-is-having-a-very-good-year-at-the-ballot-box/">Democratic Socialism Is Having a Very Good Year at the Ballot Box</a>: <font color=maroon>They're singing 'Solidarity Forever' and winning elections in states across the country.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>From Peekskill, New York, to Moorhead, Minnesota, from to Pleasant Hill, Iowa, to Knoxville, Tennessee, and Billings, Montana, DSA-backed candidates won town-council and city-council seats, school-board seats, and even a judgeship. The list of democratic-socialist victories was striking - the longest in decades. But it was not unprecedented.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/first-two-latinas-are-elected-virginia-house-delegates-making-history-n818911">First Two Latinas Are Elected to Virginia House of Delegates, Making History</a>: <font color=maroon>Elizabeth Guzmán and Hala Ayala became the first Latinas elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, part of a Democratic sweep in the state.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/nov/08/danica-roem-virginia-first-transgender-person-elected-state-legislature">Virginia elects transgender woman to state legislature</a>: <font color=maroon>Danica Roem, a former journalist and member of heavy metal band, beats Republican who sponsored bathroom bill.</font>" <p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/elections/results/virginia-governor-election-gillespie-northam">Virginia Election Results: Northam Defeats Gillespie in Governor Race</a>: <font color=maroon>Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, won a decisive victory in the race for governor of Virginia, defeating his Republican rival, Ed Gillespie, on Tuesday. Mr. Northam was propelled by liberal and moderate voters who were eager to send a message to President Trump in a state that rejected him in 2016 and where he is deeply unpopular.</font>" 53.9% to 45.0. <p>"<a href="http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/election/article183325696.html">Democrat Vi Lyles makes history in Charlotte mayoral win</a>: <font color=maroon>Casting herself as a unifier after two years of tumult, Democrat Vi Lyles easily defeated Republican Kenny Smith on Tuesday to become Charlotte's first African-American female mayor. Lyles took about 58 percent to Smith's 42 percent in unofficial returns. She carried precincts throughout the city, including a handful in south Charlotte. Despite being heavily outspent, she won on a night Democrats flexed their muscles not only in Charlotte but in Virginia and New Jersey, where they swept state races.</font>" <p>In Philly, "<a href="http://www.phillymag.com/news/2017/11/07/larry-krasner-wins-district-attorney-general-election/">'Completely Unelectable' Progressive Larry Krasner Wins DA's Race</a>: <font color=maroon>He beat Republican Beth Grossman by more than 40 percentage points.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Most of Krasner's opponents, including Grossman, were longtime prosecutors. Krasner, on the other hand, has never worked for the DA's office a day in his life. He is a civil rights and defense attorney who has represented Black Lives Matter and Occupy Philly. He's also sued the police department and City Hall more than 75 times, and promised never to seek the death penalty or bring cases based on illegal searches. Krasner once joked that he'd 'spent a career becoming completely unelectable.'</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-did-democrat-phil-murphy-win-the-new-jersey-gubernatorial-race/">How did Democrat Phil Murphy win the New Jersey gubernatorial race?</a> <font color=maroon>Democrat Phil Murphy was elected governor of New Jersey with strong support from his party's base, including women, younger voters, and by making inroads with some less traditionally Democratic groups, such as independents and white voters. Murphy defeated the state's lieutenant governor, Republican Kim Guadagno, who was hurt by her association with current Governor Chris Christie, CBS News exit polling shows.</font>" <p>"<a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/11/the-polls-just-closed-in-new-jersey-follow-the-live-results-here/?%3F%3F%3F">Democrat Phil Murphy Wins New Jersey Governor Race</a>: <font color=maroon>He'll inherit Chris Christie's beach house.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/08/nyregion/hoboken-sikh-mayor-ravi-bhalla.html?_r=0">In a City of Firsts, Hoboken Elects a Sikh as Mayor</a> [...] <font color=maroon>And now the city of some 55,000 people on the Hudson River can boast another first: Councilman Ravi Bhalla on Tuesday became the first Sikh elected mayor in New Jersey, and one of only a few Sikhs to become mayor of an American city.</font>" <p><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2017/11/07/politics/2017-us-election-highlights/index.html">A few more highlights</a>: <font color=maroon>Democrats also made significant down-ballot gains in Virginia. Justin Fairfax won the lieutenant governor's against Republican Jill Holtzman Vogel, a state senator known for her sponsorship of a 2012 bill that would have required women seeking abortions to undergo vaginal ultrasounds. Social issues were prominent in another statewide race, where Democratic attorney general Mark Herring defeated Republican challenger John Adams, who has hit Herring for his refusal to defend Virginia's same-sex marriage ban in court. And Chris Hurst, whose girlfriend Alison Parker was the Virginia TV reporter killed on live television in 2015, won a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates</font>" <p>"<a href="https://www.bustle.com/p/election-night-2017-was-defined-by-progressive-victories-twitter-is-ecstatic-3248436">Election Night 2017 Was Defined By Progressive Victories &amp; Twitter Is Ecstatic</a>." <p>"<a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/the-secret-to-progressives-electoral-success/">The Secret to Progressives' Electoral Success?</a> <font color=maroon>They didn't just say NO to Trump, they offered a serious, affirmative agenda.</font>" Some really great victory stories here, including a lefty winning in a town most people would assume would be red forever. <p>Mike Lux, "<a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/5a0374a4e4b0204d0c1713df">Democrats Face an Intersection</a>: <font color=maroon>We Won Big, Thank Goodness: But How Do We Keep It Going?</font> [...] <font color=maroon>An economic populism with a bold agenda that doesn't ignore the needs of either communities of color or white working class folks, that is conscious and purposeful in reaching out to and embracing both, is the path that leads to Democrats to victory in the years to come. But Democrats face an intersection: we can embrace this path forward together, or we can continue to chase moderate voters and kowtow to the 1% at the expense of everyone else. The former can lead us to a lot more victories in 2018 and 2020, the latter will keep us stuck in the past.</font>" <p><center><font color=magenta>* * * * *</font></center><p> <p>"<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/03/opinion/dnainfo-gothamist-ricketts-union.html">A Billionaire Destroyed His Newsrooms Out of Spite</a> <font color=maroon>It is worth being clear about exactly what happened here, so that no one gets too smug. DNAinfo was never profitable, but Mr. Ricketts was happy to invest in it for eight years, praising its work all along. Gothamist, on the other hand, was profitable, and a fairly recent addition to the company. One week after the New York team unionized, Mr. Ricketts shut it all down. He did not try to sell the company to someone else. Instead of bargaining with 27 unionized employees in New York City, he chose to lay off 115 people across America. And, as a final thumb in the eye, he initially pulled the entire site's archives down (they are now back up), so his newly unemployed workers lost access to their published work. Then, presumably, he went to bed in his $29 million apartment. Of all the lies spouted during the DNAinfo-Gothamist anti-union campaign, none was more transparent than a spokeswoman's assertion that the union was a 'competitive obstacle making it harder for the business to be financially successful.' The company never made money before it was unionized, but more important, the new union hadn't made a single demand yet.</font>" That's the NYT opinion piece - the news story is "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/02/nyregion/dnainfo-gothamist-shutting-down.html?_r=0">DNAinfo and Gothamist Are Shut Down After Vote to Unionize</a>." <p>"<a href="http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/11/11/amzn-n11.html">House to vote on giving Amazon $53 billion deal to become main Pentagon supplier</a>: <font color=maroon>Members of the US House of Representatives and Senate Armed Services committees announced Wednesday that they have reached agreement on the proposed $700 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the annual defense spending bill. This astronomical figure - an $80 billion increase over spending in 2016 and roughly $26 billion more than was requested by President Donald Trump - is a clear signal that the US will expand its ongoing wars around the world and is preparing to engage in far broader conflicts potentially involving North Korea, Iran, Russia, and China.</font>" <p><a href="http://www.ibtimes.com/political-capital/elizabeth-warren-warns-navient-deal-danger-student-loan-borrowers-2609602">Elizabeth Warren Warns: Navient Deal A Danger To Student Loan Borrowers</a>: <font color=maroon>U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren warned Wednesday that the nation's largest student loan servicer has positioned itself to stealthily strip consumer protections from unwitting borrowers across the country. In an interview with International Business Times, she also said the loan servicer, Navient, should not be permitted to be a government contractor handling student loans on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education. The Massachusetts Democrat was sounding an alarm about Navient's recent acquisition of online lender Earnest. She said the transaction opened up the possibility that the company will try to boost its profits by selling debtors on refinancing their current federal student loans with the company's own private loans - the kind that she said to do not necessarily permit income-based repayment options.</font>" <p>"<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/07/17/with-new-d-c-policy-group-dems-continue-to-rehabilitate-and-unify-with-bush-era-neocons/">With New D.C. Policy Group, Dems Continue to Rehabilitate and Unify With Bush-Era Neocons</a>: <font color=maroon>One of the most under-discussed yet consequential changes in the American political landscape is the reunion between the Democratic Party and the country's most extreme and discredited neocons. While the rise of Donald Trump, whom neocons loathe, has accelerated this realignment, it began long before the ascension of Trump and is driven by far more common beliefs than contempt for the current president. A newly formed and, by all appearances, well-funded national security advocacy group, devoted to more hawkish U.S. policies toward Russia and other adversaries, provides the most vivid evidence yet of this alliance. Calling itself the Alliance for Securing Democracy, the group describes itself as 'a bipartisan, transatlantic initiative' that 'will develop comprehensive strategies to defend against, deter, and raise the costs on Russian and other state actors' efforts to undermine democracy and democratic institutions,' and also 'will work to publicly document and expose Vladimir Putin's ongoing efforts to subvert democracy in the United States and Europe.'</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Democrats often justify this union as a mere marriage of convenience: a pragmatic, temporary alliance necessitated by the narrow goal of stopping Trump. But for many reasons, that is an obvious pretext, unpersuasive in the extreme. This Democrat/neocon reunion had been developing long before anyone believed Donald Trump could ascend to power, and this alliance extends to common perspectives, goals, and policies that have little to do with the current president.</font>" <p>"<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-41880153">What are the Paradise Papers?</a> <font color=maroon>The Paradise Papers are a huge leak of financial documents that throw light on the top end of the world of offshore finance. A number of stories are appearing in a week-long expose of how politicians, multinationals, celebrities and high-net-worth individuals use complex structures to protect their cash from higher taxes. As with last year's Panama Papers leak, the documents were obtained by the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, which called in the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) to oversee the investigation. BBC Panorama and the Guardian are among the nearly 100 media groups investigating the papers. The Paradise Papers name was chosen because of the idyllic profiles of many of the offshore jurisdictions whose workings are unveiled, including Bermuda, the HQ of the main company involved, Appleby. It also dovetails nicely with the French term for a tax haven - paradis fiscal. Then again, the Isle of Man plays a big part.</font>" Hmm, it seems Charles has been a naughty boy. <p>"<a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/11/yemen-facing-massive-famine-blockade-lifted-171109035915768.html">UN: Yemen facing massive famine if blockade not lifted</a>: <font color=maroon>Millions of people will die in Yemen, in what will be the world's worst famine crisis in decades, unless a Saudi-led military coalition ends a devastating blockade and allows aid into the country, the United Nations has warned.</font>" The media is either ignoring complete or misrepresenting this situation, because the bad guys in this story are the US, the UK, and our good buddies in Saudi Arabia. <p>Thomas Frank, "<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/nov/09/paradise-papers-offshore-billionaires">Why have we built a paradise for offshore billionaires?</a> [...] <font color=maroon>For decades Americans have lashed out against taxation because they were told that cutting taxes would give people an incentive to work harder and thus make the American economy flourish. Our populist leaders told us this - they're telling us this still, as they reform taxes in Washington - and they rolled back the income tax, they crusaded against the estate tax, and they worked to keep our government from taking action against offshore tax havens. In reality, though, it was never about us and our economy at all. Today it is obvious that all of this had only one rationale: to raise up a class of supermen above us. It had nothing to do with jobs or growth. Or freedom either. The only person's freedom to be enhanced by these tax havens was the billionaire's freedom. It was all to make his life even better, not ours.</font>" <p>Bernie Sanders in <em>Politico</em>, "<a href="https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/11/10/bernie-sanders-how-to-fix-democratic-party-215813">How to Fix the Democratic Party</a>: <font color=maroon>It's time we come together to enact real reform - only then can we defeat Donald Trump and retake the country.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>An economic populism with a bold agenda that doesn't ignore the needs of either communities of color or white working class folks, that is conscious and purposeful in reaching out to and embracing both, is the path that leads to Democrats to victory in the years to come. But Democrats face an intersection: we can embrace this path forward together, or we can continue to chase moderate voters and kowtow to the 1% at the expense of everyone else. The former can lead us to a lot more victories in 2018 and 2020, the latter will keep us stuck in the past.</font>" <p><em>Salon</em>, "<a href="https://www.salon.com/2017/11/10/bernie-sanders-to-reform-the-party-democrats-must-split-from-corporate-america/">Bernie Sanders: To reform the party, Democrats must split from corporate America</a>: <font color=maroon>Sanders said the Democrats must reform the party and primary process, and not rely on wealthy donors to beat Trump,</font>" <p>Meanwhile, from the Department of Doubling Down on Stupid: "<a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/joe-biden-positions-himself-as-the-anti-bernie/">Joe Biden Positions Himself as the 'Anti-Bernie'</a>: <font color=maroon>Biden, like many mainstream liberal Democrats, seems intent upon not understanding the real lessons of 2016.</font>" I still would argue with that "liberal" label. Biden has been a handmaiden of the aristocracy for some time. "<font color=maroon>By failing to formulate an alternative to the failed foreign and economic policies of the past, which he has done much (more than most politicians) to shape, Biden showed that he remains wedded to the tenets of liberal interventionism and free-trade orthodoxy that have served the citizens of this country so poorly over the past quarter-century.</font>" <p><center><font color=magenta>* * * * *</font></center><p><p>"<a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/11/2/16599036/donna-brazile-hillary-clinton-sanders">Donna Brazile's bombshell about the DNC and Hillary Clinton, explained</a>: <font color=maroon>A former Democratic National Committee chair on Thursday revealed the existence of a previously secret agreement that appeared to confirm some of Bernie Sanders supporters' fears about the 2016 Democratic primary. Donna Brazile, a longtime Clinton ally who stepped in as DNC chair last year in the wake of Debbie Wasserman Schultz's resignation, published an excerpt of her upcoming book in Politico in which she disclosed the details of a fundraising agreement between the DNC and the Clinton campaign reached in August 2015. 'The agreement - signed by Amy Dacey, the former CEO of the DNC, and [Clinton campaign manager] Robby Mook with a copy to [Clinton campaign counsel] Marc Elias- specified that in exchange for raising money and investing in the DNC, Hillary would control the party's finances, strategy, and all the money raised,' Brazile wrote in the story under the headline 'Inside Hillary Clinton's Secret Takeover of the DNC.' Brazile added of the deal: '[Clinton's] campaign had the right of refusal of who would be the party communications director, and it would make final decisions on all the other staff. The DNC also was required to consult with the campaign about all other staffing, budgeting, data, analytics, and mailings.'</font>" Naturally, she's getting the hate treatment from the Clintonians, and mostly for saying things that are true, or for things she <a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/11/05/four-viral-claims-spread-by-journalists-on-twitter-in-the-last-week-alone-that-are-false/">didn't say at all</a>. <p>Elizabeth Warren gets the hate treatment from the Clintonians when "<a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2017/11/02/politics/elizabeth-warren-dnc-rigged/">Asked if DNC system was rigged in Clinton's favor, Warren says 'yes'</a>." <p>Claims that what Brazile said has been "debunked" by Howard Dean turn out to be fake news, as <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/sanders-campaign-document-reveals-fundraising-relationship-dnc/story?id=50926505">the "debunking" turns out to be nonsense</a>. <p>Ryan Grimm, "<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/11/03/dnc-donna-brazile-hillary-clinton-barack-obama/">Angry About The DNC Scandal? Thank Obama</a>. [...] <font color=maroon>All that is fodder for a good flamewar, but walking away rather unscathed is the man who set the blaze in the first place: former President Barack Obama. 'Nobody wanted to out the fact that Obama had let it get so bad,' said the DNC official.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Raising money for a bland outfit like the DNC isn't easy in the best of times, but with Obama offering little to no help, and clinging to his invaluable email list, Wasserman Schultz was set up to fail, even if she would have done so on her own. Obama instead reasoned that he could become the party, his dynamic and charismatic personality carrying it at the national level. Obama was re-elected, but the party itself went on a historic losing spree, ultimately shedding nearly 1,000 seats across the country. Even after Democrats lost the Senate in 2014, and the DNC continued spending money on consultants at an eye-popping rate, Obama decided not to make a leadership change. Instead, he left it saddled with debt - debt the Clinton campaign would later agree to pay off in exchange for control.</font> [...] <font color=maroon>Obama finally became interested in the party after the 2016 loss. His final gift to the party apparatus was Tom Perez, his labor secretary, who he recruited to stop Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., from winning the race for DNC chair. Obama and Perez won. DNC funding has been anemic, and it recently had to add to its roughly $3 million in debt.</font>" <p>Matt Taibbi in <em>Rolling Stone</em>: <blockquote><font color=maroon><a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/taibbi-why-donna-brazile-book-on-hillary-clinton-primary-matters-w511099">Why Donna Brazile's Story Matters - But Not for the Reason You Might Think</a><br>Everyone knew the primary was rigged. The real question is: Why did they bother, when they would have won anyway? <p> [...] <p>The use of rumors and innuendo to gin up furious emotional responses through a community before facts and corrections can catch up; the use of letters of denunciation; the reflexive charge that dissenting thoughts aid a foreign enemy - does no one recognize this? Has no one out there read a history book? <p> [...] <p>But that is what's so weird. Why bother monkeying around with rules, when you're going to win anyway? <p>Why not welcome Sanders and the energy he undoubtedly would (and did) bring into the party, rather than scheme to lock him and others out? <p>There are a lot of people who are going to wonder why so much time is being spent re-litigating the 2016 campaign. It sucked, it's over: Who cares? <p>It does matter. That race is when many of the seeds of what will be the defining problems of our age first began to be sown. <p> [...] <p>This is when establishment Democrats began to openly lose faith in democracy and civil liberties and began to promote a "results over process" mode of political thinking. It's when we started hearing serious people in Washington talk about the dangers of "too much democracy." <p> [...] <p>The point of the Brazile story isn't that the people who "rigged" the primary were afraid of losing an election. It's that they weren't afraid of betraying democratic principles, probably because they didn't believe in them anymore. <p>If you're not frightened by the growing appeal of that line of thinking, you should be. There is a history of this sort of thing. And it never ends well. </font></blockquote> <p>And finally, those wags at <em>The Onion</em>, "<a href="https://politics.theonion.com/dnc-unveils-clinton-institute-for-campaign-ethics-refor-1820092241/amp">DNC Unveils Clinton Institute For Campaign Ethics Reform In Response To Corruption Allegations</a>" <p><center><font color=magenta>* * * * *</font></center><p> <p>"<a href="https://www.rawstory.com/2017/10/georgia-man-charged-with-murder-for-shooting-friend-following-argument-over-forgiveness-in-the-bible/">Georgia man charged with murder for shooting friend following argument over forgiveness in the Bible</a>" <p>"<a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/this-north-carolina-county-has-a-thriving-branch-of-the-naacp-and-its-mostly-white/">This North Carolina County Has a Thriving Branch of the NAACP - and It's Mostly White</a> [...] <font color=maroon>The branch's success speaks to the potential for progressive organizing in Appalachia, and to the promise - and challenges - of building diverse coalitions in the 21st-century South. </font>" <p>Helaine Olen's op-ed in the NYT, "<a href="https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/11/02/opinion/health-insurance-shopping-obamacare.html">Choosing a Health Insurance Plan Is Not 'Shopping'</a> [...] <font color=maroon>No surprise, reviewing our health insurance options doesn't score high on the fun-o-meter. A 2016 Harris Poll discovered almost half of the employees they questioned always found choosing an insurance plan stressful. A similar number told Aflac they would rather talk to an ex or walk across hot coals than enroll in a health insurance plan. And yet another United Healthcare survey found more than a quarter of respondents would rather lose their credit card, smartphone or luggage, not to mention suffer a flat tire, than review their health insurance options during open-enrollment periods.</font>" <p>The push for more STEM training isn't about filling jobs, but about pushing tech job wages down. "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/01/education/edlife/stem-jobs-industry-careers.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=0">Where the STEM Jobs Are (and Where They Aren't)</a>". <p>Umair Haique, "<a href="https://medium.com/bad-words/why-the-english-speaking-world-is-the-new-soviet-union-255bc385e3f2">(Why) The English-Speaking World is the New Soviet Union</a> [...] <font color=maroon>The best way to understand what has gone wrong with the Anglo world, and America in particular, is simply to think of it as a staggeringly ironic repeat of history. A few short decades ago, the Soviet Union fell, after thirty or so years of stagnation, which its complacent, pampered leaders, utterly divorced from lived reality, vociferously denied could ever be happening to begin with. That steadfast denial opened up the possibility of sudden collapse, and collapse it did: into authoritarianism, extreme inequality, superstition, cults of personality, tribalism, vendetta, violence, corruption, and kleptocracy. That is exactly what is happening to America, from the denial to the pampering to the sudden shock. Falling life expectancy, flat incomes, a shrinking middle class - short of war, or a giant meteor striking the earth, more severe indicators of collapse simply don't exist. So. What led to the collapse?</font>" <p><a href="https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2017/11/youve-never-heard-charter-important-magna-carta.html">Why You've Never Heard of a Charter as Important as the Magna Carta</a>: <font color=maroon>The Charter of the Forest was sealed 800 years ago today. Its defence of the property-less and of 'the commons', means the Right would prefer to ignore it - and progressives need to celebrate and renew it. Eight hundred years ago this month, after the death of a detested king and the defeat of a French invasion in the Battle of Lincoln, one of the foundation stones of the British constitution was laid down. It was the Charter of the Forest, sealed in St Paul's on November 6, 1217, alongside a shortened Charter of Liberties from 2 years earlier (which became the Magna Carta). The Charter of the Forest was the first environmental charter forced on any government. It was the first to assert the rights of the property-less, of the commoners, and of the commons. It also made a modest advance for feminism, as it coincided with recognition of the rights of widows to have access to means of subsistence and to refuse to be remarried. The Charter has the distinction of having been on the statute books for longer than any other piece of legislation. It was repealed 754 years later, in 1971, by a Tory government. In 2015, while spending lavishly on celebrating the Magna Carta anniversary, the government was asked in a written question in the House of Lords whether it would be celebrating the Charter this year. A Minister of Justice, Lord Faulks, airily dismissed the idea, stating that it was unimportant, without international significance. Yet earlier this year the American Bar Association suggested the Charter of the Forest had been a foundation of the American Constitution and that it was more important now than ever before. They were right.</font>" <p>I can't believe I missed this last year. "<a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/130737/democrats-still-dont-get-george-mcgovern">What Democrats Still Don't Get About George McGovern</a>: <font color=maroon>The party took all the wrong lessons from his landslide loss to Richard Nixon in '72.</font>" Establishment Democrats vowed to make sure McGovern lost in the general, and it sure worked. "<font color=maroon>Democratic leaders' response to McGovern's defeat was swift and unequivocal. From the ashes of McGovern's loss rose a group of disaffected Democratic campaign staffers and elected officials, soon dubbed the 'neoliberals,' who promised to put the Democratic Party back on the winning track, which invariably lay to the right. The neoliberals and their biggest stars, such as Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis and California Governor Jerry Brown, called for a full-scale repudiation of not only McGovernism, but also the 'New Deal ethic' that had animated Democratic politics since FDR. On foreign policy, they claimed that Democrats needed to reestablish their toughness and willingness to use the military to confront enemies abroad. On social issues like busing and gay rights, the neolibs urged Democrats to strike a more conservative tone, even if it meant shunting aside the very groups that McGovern had worked so hard to court. On economic issues, McGovern's greatest sin in the eyes of the neolibs was precisely what had most worried the Nixon White House - his populism. The neolibs argued that economic growth, not income inequality, needed to be Democrats' primary concern. The entrepreneurial class, they claimed, needed to replace the working class as the Democrats' idée fixe - a shift that not coincidentally would make the party a more welcome home for the donations of big business and rich individuals.</font>" And when all these neolibs lost, we were told that they were lefties who lost. (And anyway, Nixon ran as far left as McGovern on major issues, promising to end the war and soak the rich, and running an anti-austerity policy.) <p>Meteor Blades, "<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/11/5/1710177/-In-57-a-judge-said-incorrigible-and-sent-me-to-reform-school-Such-places-still-need-big-fixes">In '57, a judge said 'incorrigible' and sent me to 'reform school.' Such places still need big fixes</a>." <p>Matt Taibbi, "<a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/taibbi-the-great-college-loan-swindle-w510880">The Great College Loan Swindle</a>: <font color=maroon>How universities, banks and the government turned student debt into America's next financial black hole</font> [...] <font color=maroon>America as a country has evolved in recent decades into a confederacy of widescale industrial scams. The biggest slices of our economic pie - sectors like health care, military production, banking, even commercial and residential real estate - have become crude income-redistribution schemes, often untethered from the market by subsidies or bailouts, with the richest companies benefiting from gamed or denuded regulatory systems that make profits almost as assured as taxes. Guaranteed-profit scams - that's the last thing America makes with any level of consistent competence. In that light, Trump, among other things, the former head of a schlock diploma mill called Trump University, is a perfect president for these times. He's the scammer-in-chief in the Great American Ripoff Age, a time in which fleecing students is one of our signature achievements. </font>" <p>Jane Ward, "<a href="https://bullybloggers.wordpress.com/2017/11/04/thinking-bad-sex/">Thinking Bad Sex</a> [...] <font color=maroon>But the rush to meme-ify sexual harassment and assault with our righteous rage, and to reduce our thinking to the level of 'what will straight people think??!' is hardly our best way forward. For me the question is, as always, how do we draw upon decades of feminist and queer activism and theorizing to see our way through the complexities of sex and its intersections with violence?</font>" <p>Michael Kempster said this on Facebook: "<font color=maroon>Corporate governance, in particular, is to my mind very much like Soviet: the stockholders (proletariat) own the company (country), but have little if any say. The board of directors (central committee of the Communist Party) runs things, largely to the end of its own profit, power and continuity of office. The CEO (general secretary) oft becomes the focus of a cult of personality. The board (committee) usually deliberates in secret. Succession to higher posts is usually governed by secret actions, which are the object of profuse speculation. On and on--the more I go on, the more exact the analogy.</font>" <p>Good interview on <em>Majority Report</em> in which David Dayen explains to Sam <a href="https://youtu.be/Rtf0NezgusE">Why Deregulation Made Air Travel Hell</a>. Dday's article on this, in <em>The American Prospect</em>, is "<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/12/guardian-of-the-vote/544155/">Unfriendly Skies</a>: <font color=maroon>It's time to admit that airline deregulation has failed passengers, workers - and economic efficiency.</font>" You'll never guess who have to blame for the fact that airline travel has become such a nightmare. I really can't bear to get on a plane anymore. I may never see my family again. "<font color=maroon>But the real outrage should be directed at the fact that abuse of passengers is the logical endpoint of a 40-year trend since the government liberated the airline industry. Until 1978, air travel was heavily regulated. In that year, some of the nation's most celebrated liberals joined conservatives in trusting free markets. A brief rush of competition in the 1980s gave way to consolidation and monopoly power, at the expense of workers and passengers alike. Today, four carriers control 80 percent of all U.S. routes.</font>" <p>RIP: <a href="http://file770.com/?p=38658&cpage=1"><b>D. Potter</b></a>, fanzine writer, apahack, former denizen of the building at Broadway Terrace she called "Broadway Terrors", blogger at <a href="http://onyxlynx.blogspot.co.uk/"><em>Onyx Lynx</em></a>, and commenter to this blog. She was a co-founder and OE of ALPS (The Amateur Long-Playing Society) and of course an original member of A Woman's APA. She called herself "Nina Razrushen" in print and her fanzines were Tall Black Woman With One Blond Shoe Productions. She was my friend for nearly my entire adult life, and I loved her. I'm going to miss her a lot. (I'd completely forgotten that I wrote that bio of her for Balticon. Every word is true.) <p>RIP: "<a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/john-hillerman-dead-obituary-magnum-pi_us_5a053652e4b05673aa587e34?ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000067"><b>John Hillerman</b>, Emmy-Winning 'Magnum P.I.' Actor, Dead At 84</a>: <font color=maroon>He also played Bonnie Franklin's cold fish boss on <em>One Day at a Time</em>, and had a recurring role on <em>The Betty White Show</em>.</font>" <p>You know, I had entirely forgotten that there was a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8ClxSnqE5s&feature=youtu.be">Salvadore Dali Disney cartoon</a>. <p>One of the funniest and most erudite comedians in the world, <a href="https://ok.ru/video/18838915703">Bill Bailey's Remarkable Guide to the Orchestra (2009)</a>. The "extremely versatile and strangely attractive" Beeb's concert orchestra must have had so much fun doing this. <p>"<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFwEcRqHJnA">I'm So Tired</a>"Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.com0